Lunar 3: Twisted Realities
by Deep Red Amphitptere
Summary: This is my version of a Lunar3. I hope you like it! (BTW!!! Chap. 4 has been upgraded!!!)
1. Lunar 3Chapter 1

This is what my version of what Lunar 3 is. I hope you like it, even though there are some things I borrowed from Lunar 2 to create a prologue. It's about a guy named Ravin and his blue cat Joon. And that's all I'm gonna tell you.  
  
Hovering silently in space, the arid orb drowning in the Blue Star's shadow was once a colorless location, ill-suited for habitation. However, Althena the goddess of light and love, converted this world, teaming it with life and magic. She renamed this new creation Lunar. Time and circumstance conspired to force Althena to inhabit Lunar with survivors from the Blue Star, when life was held in a delicate balance. Through time, the Blue Star loomed as the only constant in the new world. Centuries and centuries came and gone, eventually making inhabitants of Lunar mind the Blue Star.  
  
The Blue Star's misrecollection occured after evil approached Lunar for the first time. After Dragonmaster Dyne gave his life being sent on a mission for Althena. Former member of the Four Heroes, Ghaleon, never forgave her for that. Avenging his closest friend, Ghaleon killed the present tribe of the Four Dragons. He captured the goddess's last rebirth in human form, knowing it was her from his horrible experience the time before. However, he was defeated by the last of the Dragonmasters. A Dragonmaster named Alex, who had fallen in love with Althena's human form. She and Alex spent the remainder of their lives together.  
  
One-thousand years after Ghaleon tried to subdue Lunar, it was once again threatened. Zophar, the dark god that had destroyed the Blue Star, had returned to try to conquer Lunar, as well. His return awakened Lucia, protector of the Blue Star. She had journeyed to Lunar on a quest to find Althena. On her search, Lucia fell in love with a young man named Hiro. Eventually on Lucia's quest, it was revealed that Althena no longer existed, for she wanted to remain human with her beloved Alex. Only her power remained of her. Along with that information, Lucia learned that the power to defeat all evil was in humans. At first, Lucia didn't think it was that simple, but she finally realized that humanity was the key to vanquish Zophar. With Zophar's ashes remaining, Lucia mournfully returned to the Blue Star to await its awakening, dispite the love between Hiro and herself. But Hiro refused to let this happen and undertook a quest to be reunited with his dear Lucia. He experienced this happy reunion and they lived together on the Blue Star for many a year. Both also agreed that Lucia remained a goddess for the sake of the Blue Star's future.  
  
After Hiro's death and the Blue Star almost completely restored, Lucia requested that the Four Dragons protect Lunar. The Dragons accepted. Sometime afterwards, the Blue Star was attained at last. However, it had no knowledge of magic. And Lucia cast a magic aura around Lunar, making it appear desolate to anyone from the Blue Star, who could not travel to it by any means of magic. Without magic, technology once again became the primary aid of humanity.  
  
A century after the restoration of the Blue Star, our story begins...  
  
LUNAR 3  
  
Chapter One: And So It Begins...  
  
There's just nothing left to live for anymore once your most loved one has gone and left you just as soon as you meet him. After the restoration of the Blue Star, immortality for Lucia has been boring and almost loveless. People on her newly restored world don't seem to have any gratitude for their creator, but they needed her no matter what she thought.  
  
Lucia sighed. Surveying the endless expanse of snowy peaks, from the Blue Tower's icy ledges, thinking about her beloved Hiro, missing him so horribly. His death is now beginning to get unbearable. She wouldn't have lived like this if she'd just give up her immortality for him. She sighed again, more softly this time, wrapping Hiro's old cloak around her shoulders, her face. Lucia closed her eyes, using her other senses to remind her of Hiro. His cloak stilled smelled like him, and his memory always stayed fresh. She remembered that they had their first kiss on this ledge. Lucia's eyes snapped open when she felt a hand touch her cloth- covered shoulder. She turned to face who was standing there; it was her daughter. She looked just like her father with her hair as short as his was and his soft brown eyes. Her daughter was wearing the clothes that she gave her not so long ago.  
  
"You know." she said, kindly. "There is a bedchamber of yours inside that you can think about Dad in, Mom. Not to mention, it is warmer too."  
  
"Alright, Diana." Lucia followed her down the ledge and into the tower. Down the blue spiral stairs and into her bedroom. Diana had already made some hot tea for her mother to drink. She took the cup and sipped it gingerly as Lucia sat down on her bed. Diana sat down next to Lucia.  
  
"Mom," she said, putting both of her hands on her knees and stretching out her arms as if she had something up her sleeve.  
  
"Mmm, hmm?" Lucia asked, still having some sort of clue of what she will be asking her.  
  
"Have you ever wondered what it would be like for us to see the humans and how they live and such?"  
  
"No, Diana. Absolutly not."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"You do not know? You should because we have already been through this several times and I am not going to start changing my mind about it."  
  
"Oh, come on, Mom!" Diana begged. "Please...?"  
  
"The answer you are groveling for is not going anywhere passed my lips."  
  
"Oh..." she whined.  
  
"I do not want you to live through what I am right now." Lucia told her putting the cup down on a nearby nightstand. "If we did go down to the humans, you would probably fall in love with one. If there is anything I do not want, it is for you to suffer the loss of one you share your life with. You know that WE could not go down to see the humans, we are immortal. Your Father was a mortal and he was the only one who could go."  
  
"And all these years, you just said it would be a waste of time." Diana remarked.  
  
"And I am sorry for that." She started to tear up, as she thought of Hiro. She sniffed and sat back on the bed, buring her face in her hands to sob. Diana wrapped her arms around her mother. She was starting to cry at the memories of Hiro, also.  
  
"It is going to be alright, Mom." she whispered. "I miss Dad too."  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin gently placed a small girl in the top bunk of a bed. The girl had white hair with a pastel pink shimmer to it.  
  
Ravin covered her up with a pink blanket before climbing down the ladder.  
  
He sighed and ran his fingers through his, also, white hair, which had two auburn stripes on both sides of his head. He walked out of the room.  
  
"Dad!" Ravin whispered down the hall, loud enough to be heard. "Bianca's asleep now!" Just then, a man with white bushy hair with one brown stripe running down the middle of his mophead walked into view.  
  
"Ravin, I think your sister can put herself to bed." he said.  
  
"I was feeling generous, okay?" Ravin flung his arms in the air.  
  
"Nall!" called the voice of a woman from the kitchen.  
  
"What?" Nall called back, looking away from his son.  
  
"Come here for a minute!!"  
  
Nall sighed. "Could you check on the rest of the Dragon Kids while I help your mother, Ravin?"  
  
"Sure!" he smiled. "Don't go away! I'll meet you in the kitchen!"  
  
"What do you want, Ruby?" Nall asked, walking into the kitchen.  
  
"Could you give me the salt out of the cuboard?" asked the pink- haired woman. This was Ruby, Ravin's mother. Unlike Nall, she had two white stripes in her hair, that was held up in a bun by a yellow bow, and freckles.  
  
"Yep." Nall got the shaker out and started shaking it like crazy into the liquid Ruby was stirring.  
  
"Alright, already!!" Ruby screamed. "That is ENOUGH!!!"  
  
"Heh!" Nall laughed.  
  
"Everything's okay in the playground, Mom and Dad." said Ravin walking up to his parents. "Can I take a little break? Carnival is around and I want to see it before it carries on."  
  
"Sure, go ahead." said Ruby.  
  
"Thanks!" Ravin started to trot out of the kitchen. "I'll be back in a few hours!!"  
  
Ravin took the small elevator down to the bottom of Taben's Peak and started to sprint out of the area. He was so happy to get away from there for a while he didn't hear someone calling his name from behind.  
  
"Hey, Dragon-ditz! Wait UP!"  
  
Ravin groaned as he stopped in his tracks. He smiled when he saw who it was. It was a blue cat with wings, flying towards him. She was a baby blue color with a dark blue stripe along her back. She had a white belly, blue paws, green feathers underneath her wings, and a red ball of fur on the tip of her tail.  
  
"Hurry, Joon." Ravin laughed.  
  
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Joon complained. "Didn't you hear me call you, Ravi?" she asked, when she finally caught up to him. "For a second there I thought you went deaf after that little brat screamed in your ear."  
  
"Nope. I'm just excited to leave for a while." Ravin replied. "Your favorite carnival is around." He gave the cat a devilish look. "I'm going there the easy way."  
  
"Ravin! You can't here!" Joon shrieked. "Not unless you want trouble from people and your folks! If THEY find out you did, you'll come up to me one day and say, 'Start my will, Joon, 'cuz I'm not coming home'."  
  
"No! I'm just going to change right now and then transform inside a cave or somthing." Ravin stepped inside of the trees and stayed quiet for a while. His body started to glow and then change from the shape of a human into the shape of a cat with wings, somewhat like Joon. Once his transformation was over, Ravin looked just like Joon, only he was white.  
  
"Brillient, Sherlock." Joon muttered. The two cats started to take flight into the air, away from Taben's Peak. "I still don't know why you can change into a human and I can't."  
  
"You're still too young." Ravin's voice was high and squeaky. "Next year, you'll be able to."  
  
"But I'm older than Bianca." objected Joon. "How is it that SHE'S human and I'm not?"  
  
"She was born as a human." Ravin explained. "Not a Dragon, like you were."  
  
"Oh..." Joon nodded.  
  
* * *  
  
Lucia woke up the next morning. She reached her arm over to embrace Hiro, like she used to. Just like the many years previously, he wasn't there. Lucia sat up in bed trying to wake up. Once she felt the strength to stand, she swung her feet over the side of the bed and slipped little pink cat slippers on her feet. She raised her arms above her head and stretched. As she walked out into the next room and put her robe on, Lucia looked around, sensing that Diana wasn't in the tower. If Lucia knew her daughter, she was probably outside.  
  
Lucia looked straight up the tower. As the walls towered up, stairs making it look like a vortex, they gradually faded into darker shades of blue. She walked up the stairs a ways, until she came to the first door that led outside. Diana wasn't out there. She tried the next door up. She wasn't out there either. After a while, until Lucia made it to the last door, she saw her on an icy ledge. She NEVER came this high up the tower! Lucia walked closer to her. Diana was beginning to look more clear to her. She was gazing up. Lucia did also, trying to see was she was staring at. Then she saw the only thing visable in the sky. Lunar. Oh, no. Lucia thought. Don't tell me she's thinking about going to Lunar. She shrugged, knowing what was coming her way if she disturbed her thoughts. Lucia took the risk and tapped her on the shoulder. Diana whipped her head back and simpered a sinister smile at her mother. The one she always does when she wants something.  
  
"Hiya, Mom!" she cried, happily. "Did you sleep well? Have a good breakfast?"  
  
"What do you want?" Lucia asked crossing her arms.  
  
"Nothing." Diana said without missing a beat.  
  
"Not when it comes to you. You want SOMETHING."  
  
"No, of course I do not." she snickered. "What made you think that I wanted something?"  
  
"Let us just call it a lucky guess."  
  
"Well, you guessed right." groaned Diana. "Since I cannot visit humans on the Blue Star, I was thinking...maybe that I could...visit humans on Lunar?"  
  
"Diana, there are no humans on the moon." Lucia lied.  
  
"Then who is Ronfar?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
"Who is Jean? Who is Ruby, and Lemina, and Leo, and Nall?"  
  
"They are uh..."  
  
"You visited Lunar, did you not?" Diana started to laugh. "Those are all PEOPLE you met on LUNAR, huh? Do not try to deny it, Mom. I heard you and Dad talk about how much you miss them when I was a child."  
  
I cannot win this argument, Lucia thought. I cannot let her not go to at least SEE Lunar now that she knows there's life. "You are right," she said to her, shrugging. "I have to let you go, eventually."  
  
"Oh..." Diana whined, softly. "Do not think of it that way, Mother."  
  
"Okay," she sighed. "You may go. But I have to give you a few warnings and some adivce, first."  
  
* * *  
  
"Are you ready, Diana?" Lucia asked her daughter, standing next to her outside of the transmission room. She was dressed in a leather skirt, being supported by a belt with a bag of Herbs and hanging on it was the sheathe that held her sword, and a long-sleeved tight shirt. She was also wearing her father's cloak. Diana breathed slowly and put her hand on the Dragon head of Althena's Sword. She looked around the hall and then the transmission room. "Diana?" Lucia asked as she looked down and then back up.  
  
"Yes." she said calmly. Then she smiled. "Yes, I am ready."  
  
"Okay," Lucia embraced her. "I will miss you." Lucia backed away and looked at Diana.  
  
"I will miss you too."  
  
"Remember not to tell anyone you are from the Blue Star." she told her. "Unless you want to answer questions I do not think they need to know the answer to."  
  
"I know." Diana beamed. "I will be back." Then the transmission room started to glow from the liquid crystal hovering in the center. As her cape and short hair blew straight up from the magical winds, Diana was lifted from the ground and was being brought to the transmission crystal. The closer she got to it, the brighter the blue light shown.  
  
Lucia was blocking her eyes from the light, her hair blowing all over her face. As long as the shadow her arms casted over her eyes, Lucia was able to watch Diana. As she was entering the crystal, it seemed as if she was plunging into a tranquil pond. Before her face was inside of it, Diana called to her mother:  
  
"I love you, Mom!"  
  
"I love you, too!!"  
  
Then Diana couldn't speak anymore, for she was completely inside (It is difficult to speak inside of it, anyway). Now that Diana entered the liquid crystal, the beam of light illuminated the blue-green crystal which is now slowly rotating on its vertical axis. Then it radiated a vaporous green energy. A faint silhouette of Diana faded, as did the crystal afterwards.  
  
Lucia stood outside of the room in silence. She sighed as she headed for her room. On her nightstand was a framed picture of Hiro, Diana as a baby, and herself. The three of them were on a deck of the Destiny. Hiro was cradeling Diana and Lucia was linking arms with one of his. Hanging around the frame of the picture was Lucia's Pendant, which had stopped working her after she restored the Blue Star. Lucia sat on her bed and stared at Hiro's face in the picture. Hiro, She thought. please look after our daughter and protect her.  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin was now in his Dragon form, flying above the Salyan Desert, with Joon hanging on for dear life to his head.  
  
"I thought we were going to Carnival?!" Joon yelled over the wind.  
  
"I want to go at night." replied Ravin. "Besides, monsters are out this time of day."  
  
"But that'll take hours!!"  
  
"On the contrary, kitty-cat." Ravin grinned. "Not if we can find somthing to do to pass the time. How about some loop-de-loops?"  
  
"Nuh-uh, Ravin!" Joon refused. "No, no, and double no! I'll freak!"  
  
"I'm just gonna do one!" Ravin shifted his feathered wings upward and he started flying up and around. Somewhere within that time, Joon fell off his head. But when Ravin completed the circle of the loop, she landed roughly on his back.  
  
"What are you trying to do to me, Dragon-ditz?!" Joon shouted. "Give me a heart attack?!"  
  
"A couple more, Joon." Ravin started to do the same thing.  
  
"NO--AAAAHHHHHHH!!!" the baby Blue Dragon screamed. "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!! I'm going to throw up! And then I'm gonna die!! Mommy, make it STOP!!!"  
  
"Azura's snoozing in her cave, Joon!" Ravin mocked.  
  
"Please, Ravin." Joon begged. "No more."  
  
"Alright, Joon. I was just playing around--huh?" Ravin's ears twitched and he looked across the desert. He saw the Blue Spire. It was doing something he had never seen before. "The Blue Spire," he said. "It's glowing."  
  
"Maybe Lucia's here for a visit?" Joon guessed. Ravin started to fly closer to the spire. Within each minute, the tower glowed into a brighter blue.  
  
"I sense a very powerful aura in that spire." he layed his ears back.  
  
"Do you think it's Lucia or a...m-momster?" Joon was getting frightened.  
  
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out." Ravin started to fly closer to the Spire. But he got a little too close. The powerful aura he sensed was growing stronger and soon it grew so strong, it flung him back with a tremendous force. He and Joon were flying back for miles.  
  
"Aaaahhhhhhhhh!!" They screamed. Ravin landed in a forest, while Joon kept on flying back. He landed on his head and smacked onto the dirt onto his belly. He started to transform back into a human with all of the strength he lost. He tried to stand back up.  
  
"Ugh. Whoa." Ravin moaned as he tried to find his balance.  
  
"THERE you are!" called Joon from afar. "What WAS that?" she asked.  
  
"I...I'm not sure." he said, nearly breathless.  
  
"How are we gonna get to Carnival NOW?"  
  
"I would change back into a Dragon but I don't have enough strength for that form, yet." He looked around. "Well, we're in the Katarina Zone alright. And in the Starlight Forest."  
  
"Starlight Forest?"  
  
"Only the largest woods next to the Illusion Woods."  
  
"Is Carnival outside of these woods?"  
  
"I think so."  
  
"Well, alrighty then!! Let's get goin'!"  
  
* * *  
  
Diana walked out of the Blue Spire and looked around the Salyan Desert. She was awe-inspired at the scenery of the place next to the ocean.  
  
"Wow." she breathed. "So this is Lunar." Diana then remebered that she felt something hit her magic aura as she was coming out of the Transmission Crystal. "I wonder what I hit? I better head in that direction and make sure whatever it was is okay." She started to head West, towards the Starlight Forest.  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin and Joon were almost out of the forest. All they had to do was defeat this last group of monsters.  
  
"FLAME BOMB!!!" Ravin casted a fire spell at a gang of Green Goblins. They disappeared in a puff of red smoke. The last monster left was a Hobgoblin. It was running towards Ravin swinging its club in the air. It hit Ravin the groin, knocking him to the ground.  
  
"Ugh!" Ravin plopped onto the dirt. "Ah..." he groaned.  
  
"Hey!!" Joon shouted, flying towards the monster. She blew some bubbles in its face, weakening it a little. Ravin found the strength to sit up. He threw his dagger at the Hobgoblin's hairy chest. It roared as it disappeared, like the Green Goblins before him, in a red puff of smoke.  
  
"Ha, ha, ha! You okay, Ravi?" Joon asked.  
  
"Ow." he sqeaked.  
  
"Heh! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, HA!!"  
  
It was evening now when the two of them entered the gates to Carnival and Joon was still snickering at Ravin for the little incident with the Hobgoblin.  
  
"Shut up, Joon." Ravin growled. He pointed at the dancers dancing around the bonfire. "Let's just watch the show."  
  
It was almost midnight when Diana came out of the Starlight Forest. Once she came to an opening, she saw groups of people dancing to music upon a stage. What are they celebrating? Diana thought. They are dancing...Mom said she was taught how to dance. I think I will give it a try. Diana walked onto the platform and started to dance like everyone else. She was quite good at it.  
  
Ravin was sitting out of the dance, eating a funnel cake with chocolate on it. He tore a piece off and gave it to Joon, who was sitting next to him. She started to eat it pigishly, chocolate all over her face. While he was eating a piece of the cake himself, Ravin looked up at the dancers and saw a beautiful blue-haired young woman. Ravin started to color, then choke on his pastery at the sight of her.  
  
"Ravin. Ravin!" Joon yelled, flying up in front of his face. "Breathe! Breathe, you fool, breathe!! You know, inhale, exhale, the whole breathing thing." When Ravin didn't respond, Joon took a deep breath and started to wildly claw at his face.  
  
"Aaaahhhhhhh!!!" he screamed, swallowing what he was choking on. Everyone at Carnival stopped and looked at Ravin. He started to blush for he had never gotten this much attention before. "Okay...umm..."  
  
Ravin and Joon fell asleep during some slow music. Ravin woke up to see that all of the tourists were gone, even the beautiful girl he saw dancing on the stage was gone. He sat up, stretched, and then picked Joon up and started carring her home.  
  
* * *  
  
Diana was walking outside of the Taben's Woods, holding tightly onto the handle of Althena's Sword, ready for anything that came her way. She stopped when she saw a huge oddly-shaped tower ahead of her. She gathered her courage and walked towards it to see if anyone was in there and if they'd allow her to stay.  
  
She climbed some ladders and stairs. Diana stopped when she heard a growl behind her. She looked around, wide-eyed, for what snarled.  
  
"Tttcccchhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaa!!!"  
  
"Wha--?" Diana turned around to see a Wyburn vault at her. "NAPALM SHOT!!!" Diana casted a spell at it. Because of her fear, Diana didn't kill the monster. She only weakened it. The Wyburn bounded at her again. "NAPAL-- " Before she could cast her spell, the monster was already on top of her, clawing and biting at her.  
  
"Aah!" Diana screamed.  
  
"Rrrraaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!"  
  
Before Diana knew it, the Wyburn was dead. She wiped the blood of the monster from her cheek.  
  
"You alright, miss?" asked a man. Diana faced him. It was Nall.  
  
"A bit shaken and tired, but yes, I am alright."  
  
The man held out a hand for her and helped her up. "What are you doing out here?"  
  
"I was..." Diana covered up the hilt of her sword. "Looking for a place to stay."  
  
"Well, you can stay here, if you want."  
  
"Thank you very much, sir."  
  
The two of them walked over to the nearby elevator that was in control of a child during the day. They headed up at the push of a button.  
  
"Are you hungry?" Nall asked.  
  
"Quite." Diana replied.  
  
"Then, I'll--Well, Ruby will--make something for you." They walked into the kitchen, where Ruby was, sitting in her pajamas.  
  
"Thanks for nothing, Nall...Your screaming woke me up." Ruby retorted. She looked at Nall's company.  
  
"Could you make her something to eat, Ruby Dearest?" grinned Nall. "She is hungry."  
  
Hmm, Nall and Ruby. Diana thought. These two were either named after the two Dragons or they are--  
  
"Sure!" Ruby exclaimed. "What would you like uh...umm..."  
  
"Diana. My name's Diana."  
  
"Diana..." Ruby tried the name out. "What would you like to eat?"  
  
"It does not matter."  
  
"Cookies?"  
  
"Okay!"  
  
Nall looked around and noticed that Ravin wasn't here. "Where's Ravin?"  
  
"He must still be at Carnival with Joon." Ruby replied, getting cookies out of the cookie jar.  
  
"It's not like him to be THIS late." Nall sighed. "Maybe I should go look for them."  
  
"Don't bother." The voice came from Ravin from down the hall. He walked into the kitchen and yawned, Joon hanging over his shoulder. His head perked up noticing who was in the room. "W-Who's this, Dad?" He was looking at Diana.  
  
"This is Diana." Nall replied. "She'll be staying with us for a while. If that's okay with you."  
  
"As if he had a choice." Ruby snickered.  
  
Ravin was speechless, starting to turn red and still staring at Diana, who was staring at him.  
  
"Good. I'm glad that's settled." said Nall. "Ravin...Ravin!"  
  
"Oh! Uh...Joon and I are gonna catch a few winks." Ravin walked out of the room. "Good night."  
  
"Good night." said the three in the kitchen.  
  
* * *  
  
Diana was given a spare room next to Ravin's to sleep in. She was groaning and sweating, captured in the hands of some nightmare. In her dream, she saw her mother, younger. In her vision, she saw Lucia floating in a blue translucent sphere, several hundred feet in front of the dark god Zophar and several hundred feet above the surface of the dried-up Minea Sea. Lightning crashed through the sky. Diana could see her mother's lips moving, seeming to be arguing with Zophar. Another bolt of lightning shatters the silence. Then Diana could see the deck of the Dragonship Destiny, where her father, Ronfar, Jean, Lemina, and Ruby watch Zophar and Lucia face off. Diana could see Zophar's emotionless red eyes, making her jump in her sleep. Zophar's head suddenly emerges from his body, his neck extending to an obscene length. Zophar positioned his face only a few feet away from Lucia. Diana's dream cut to Lucia, thrusting her hand into the air, screaming a spell. Streaks of magic rush into her fingers. Lucia's hand wavers, causing the glow of magic to flicker and dim. Diana's dream rapidly zooms out from Zophar's red eyes. One of the dragon appendages appears in frame and screams. It spits out a massive ball of light. The ball of light rips across the muddy hole which once contained the Minea Sea, headed straight toward the Destiny. The dream cut to Lucia, who moves in front of the Destiny at impossible swiftness. The ball of light smashes into her and shatters. The white light disappears. Lucia gasps and turns to see Zophar, who moved his head directly in front of her. Then a fusillade of jagged purple daggers plunge into Lucia and form a spiky purple ball. Lucia screams. The dream went to Lucia wailing, inside the purple ball, in what must be an ungodly amount of pain. Zophar bites down on the ball and his neck refracts backward. Hiro screams Lucia's name. Zophar's head slithers back into his body. The vision cut to Lucia's face. Her eyes are closed tight. She struggles to extend her hand. Lucia opens her eyes and her hand at the same time, unleashing a blinding explosion of white light.  
  
Diana gasps and sits up in her bed. Her eyes are opened wide as if she was blinded by the light in her dream. She wipes the sweat from her forehead as she noticed that it was only a bad dream. Diana lied back down in her bed, trying to calm down. She pulled the blankets over her nose and tried to fall back asleep.  
  
Diana woke up a few hours after her dream. She swung her legs over the edge of her bed and stretched until her aching bones cracked. She stood up and brushed out the wrinkles in her skirt. As she wrapped her father's cloak over her shoulders, Diana walked out of her room and onto the playground. The nightmare she had didn't seem to bother her anymore.  
  
As she walked down the hall, Diana noticed all of the different children in the rooms. Most of them were having little conversations from across the room.  
  
Hmm...Diana thought, looking out at the playground. Taben's Peak. Diana walked out to the edge of the playground. "I have heard of Taben from somewhere before." she whispered. "But...how could such a wonderful place be named after such an evil person?"  
  
"Taben was a famous inventor."  
  
Diana whipped her head around, to see Nall, trying to stand on a swing.  
  
"You do know that, don't you?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, but I do not really know much about him. Do you?" Nall nodded. "Please tell me."  
  
"Well, the reason why this place was named after Taben was because he was a famous inventor." Nall looked for more to say, for he was repeating himself. "He invented almost any kind of technology you can think of. He was also a friend to a more famous inventor slash scientist, named Myght." Nall licks his lips. "I guess that Taben was jealous of Myght somewhere in his life and that's probably the reason why he teamed up with umm...Ghaleon." Diana blinks. "That's when Taben created the Grindery: A thirty story, at least, mechanical castle that combined technology with magic, making it almost invincable--"  
  
"NALL!!!" Ruby yelled, snatching Nall's ear. "Can I talk to you for a moment, DEAR?!"  
  
"Yes," Nall screamed. "Now let go of my freakin' ear!"  
  
The couple walked off to the opposite side of the playground, leaving Diana confused. Her facial expression proved her confusion.  
  
"What?!" Nall yelled.  
  
"You know what!" Ruby shouted. "Don't play innocent child on me!"  
  
"What did I do?"  
  
"Men." she scoffed. Nall raised an eyebrow. "I think you told Diana a LITTLE too much after mentioning Myght."  
  
"Doh!" Nall slapped himself in the forehead. "You don't think she knows, do you?"  
  
"I'm not sure." she also raised an eyebrow. "But if she does know, she'll keep it a secret, making us feel miserable."  
  
"Do you think she'll blurt it out?"  
  
"She won't for a price."  
  
"Gah!"  
  
"I hope I did not do anything to get you two upset." said Diana.  
  
Ruby turned to Diana. "Okay, so, now you know!" Ruby took a deep breath. "Taben was a famous inventor; he created the Grindery and turned to evil. Nobdy knows what happened to him after that, and obviously nobody cares anymore because he helped try to destroy the world." A baby started to cry in the background, sparing Nall and Ruby any more explaining to Diana. The two of them walked off again, once again leaving Diana confused. Once again, Diana went after them.  
  
"Excuse me, you two." Diana cleared her throat, as Nall and Ruby looked at her. "I am not from around here and I am not familiar with this area. I was wondering if you could give me a tour of the place?"  
  
Nall and Ruby exchanged a worried glance, then they grinned. "We can't right now." said Nall.  
  
"But Ravin can." Ruby called her son.  
  
"Yeah?" he answered from the door outside of the playground. Ravin jogged up to his parents with Bianca on his shoulders, Joon on Bianca's shoulders. Ravin started to blush, when he noticed Diana looking at him.  
  
"Diana wants a tour of the places around here." Ruby told him. "Would you take her?"  
  
"Uh..." Once again, Ravin was speechless and colored.  
  
"Good!" Nall smiled. "I'm glad that's settled. Go on! Time's a- wastin'!"  
  
"Well, let's go, Diana, Joon." Ravin put his little sister on the ground. Joon flew towards the door.  
  
"Behave, you two!" Bianca giggled at Ravin and Diana.  
  
"Don't worry, B." Joon snickered, winking at Bianca. "I'll make sure they do!"  
  
* * *  
  
On their way to the first destination, Meribia, the three of them talked about things that they liked; didn't like. Ravin seemed to be asking all of the questions, making Diana uptight about her secret.  
  
"So, what do you like about the Katarina Zone, Diana?" Ravin asked.  
  
"I am not even from this continent, Ravin." Diana pointed out. "I do not know much, just yet."  
  
"Where do you come from, then?" Joon asked.  
  
"The--" Diana bit her lip. She quickly thought up a lie. "Burg."  
  
"Oh..." Joon breathed.  
  
"How about I ask the questions, Ravin?" Diana asked. "There is so much I want to know about this place and yourself!"  
  
"Okay. Shoot."  
  
"Shoot what?" Diana wasn't used to the slang Ravin was usually using when speaking. Her mother never used it and her father never had to use the expression "shoot."  
  
"I mean, start asking me questions...please..." Ravin knew that girls liked polite-ness in guys. And he liked Diana, so he figured that manners would make a good im-pression.  
  
"What do YOU like, Ravin?" Diana asked.  
  
"I like...food...and young women."  
  
(I sure hope so!) Joon mumbled.  
  
"What's THAT supposed to mean?!"  
  
"Ha, ha, ha!" Diana laughed. "I am guessing you two do this often. You must really care about each other."  
  
"Joon's is, like, my best friend. It's hard to stay mad at her."  
  
"Oh, sure! You say it to HER, but not to MY face." Joon sighed. "Oh, well. Now I'LL ask some questions. What do you two think of each other?" Ravin and Diana looked at each other and blushed. "Ravin?"  
  
"I-I--"  
  
"I knew it!" Joon exclaimed. "I KNEW Ravin had the hots for Diana!"  
  
"No--Joon!"  
  
"Say it with me, Ravi, 'I have the hots for Diana'!"  
  
"Oh, look, Diana! Meribia! Let's hurry!" Ravin akwardly jogged towards the large city, with Joon flying to catch up to him, leaving Diana behind. She smiled to herself.  
  
After Ravin showed all of the weapon, armor, and item shops there was in Meribia, it was after lunchtime, so the three of them decided to see what places there were to eat at. Ravin was grumbling to himself in disgust at how in this entire city there was only one restraunt, that was actually a pub.  
  
"How pitiful!" Ravin whispered, loud enough to be heard by his companions. "This huge city called Meribia only has one freakin' place to eat and THIS had to be it!" He waved his arms in the air at the look of the inside of the bar. Drunken dogs were everywhere: hanging onto tables, chairs around their necks, people drooling on the floor, which was coated in beer.  
  
"At least they have fish." Joon added, cowering onto Ravin's shoulder. She had seen a hairy Beastman lick his lips in hunger at the sight of the blue cat. Joon looked around, noticing that Diana wasn't beside Ravin. "Where's Diana?"  
  
"Ugh!" Ravin slapped his forehead. "I totally forgot about her! Di--" Ravin turned around and nearly started to call for Diana when he saw that she was right behind him. "Sigh...You scared me, Diana."  
  
"I am sorry." she apologized.  
  
"It's okay." Ravin sighed again. "Let's find a place to sit." He looked around and saw that the front was the only place to sit. He and Diana both sat down in a chair and waited for someone to serve them.  
  
There was a blonde man, with a black bandana around his forehead, sitting two chairs away from the three people, staring at Joon. The man was drunk.  
  
"Aaahhhhhh!!" Joon shrieked, being plucked off of Ravin's shoulder.  
  
"Iz dis som kinda robotic toy?*BELCH*" The man eructed, pulling at Joon's face.  
  
"Lemme GO!!" Joon yelled, trying to scratch the man's face.  
  
"Umm...pardon me, sir." said Ravin gently pulling the blue cat away from the man. "That is my cat you're holding there."  
  
"Ex-CUSE me?! I am NOT a cat!" Joon shouted, being thrown onto the chair behind Ravin.  
  
"Whad are ya, my motha?!" yelled the man, talking a swing at Ravin, missing the first time, hitting his jaw the second time.  
  
"Ow! That HURT!" Ravin yelled, popping his jaw back in place, cracking it. "For someone so stringy, you sure can--" Before Ravin could say or do anything else, the blonde man swung a chair and hit Ravin's head, knocking him out.  
  
"Ravin!!" Diana and Joon went over to Ravin's side. "Are you okay?" Diana asked.  
  
"You ball-less idiot!!!" The baby Dragon insulted the man.  
  
"What da bloody 'hell's goin' on 'ere?!" yelled a strong voice.  
  
"Aah! It's Fional!! Let's get outta here!!!" howled a group of outlaws. All of them ran out the door, except for one, who jumped out the window.  
  
"Git outta me way or I'm gonna shoot ya in da face!" The Beastman yowled at a person who was in his way at walking towards Ravin. The man, who the group of men called Fional, had an Austrailian accent and was wearing lightweight armor and a pack full of arrows. He had auburn hair and two red tattoos of stripes on his cheeks. "Ya alright?" he asked the small group. Diana and Joon nodded. Fional looked at the blonde man who had the chair in his hands and raised his eyebrows. Fional beared his fangs as the man set the chair down and sat in it. "Come wit me." said the Beastman, throwing Ravin over his shoulder. Diana and Joon followed him into the Meribia mansion.  
  
Fional took the party to his room upstairs and set Ravin, who was still out cold, on his bed.  
  
"Sit tight. I'll be right back." said Fional, walking out of his room, closing the door behind him. Fional's room had a dark wooden floor and varieties of armor hanging on his wall. In the corner across from the bed was a large dresser, and next to that was a mirror the size of his head.  
  
Diana stayed quiet for a while and looked at Joon, who was staring down, concerned, at Ravin. Diana layed one hand on Ravin's forehead, where his wound was.  
  
"Diana, what are you doing?" Joon asked.  
  
"Shh. I am going to heal him."  
  
"But--" But before Joon could tell Diana that that kind of healing magic isn't heard of in the Katarina Zone, Diana's hands started to glow light green. When the girl removed her hands, the glow lingered on the wound, that wasn't there anymore, then disappeared. "W-Who are you, Diana?! Only Priests have THAT kinda magic!"  
  
"Well, I--"  
  
"I'm back!" called Fional, opening the door with a chunk of frozen meat in his hand. "Put dis on 'is wo--" The Beastman noticed that Ravin was starting to sit up, unharmed. "Oh,"  
  
"Where am I?" Ravin whispered, looking at his surroundings. He looked at Fional, who was walking over to the party. "Did you bring me here?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Yer welcome." Fional twitched his long ears with delight. "What are yer names, eh?"  
  
"I'm Ravin. This is Diana, and Joon."  
  
"The one and only!" exclaimed Joon.  
  
"Heh," The Beastman laughed. He looked at Ravin, who glanced at Diana. "Date?"  
  
"I think it's Friday the 13th." said Joon.  
  
"No, I mean, is Ravin and Diana on one?"  
  
"No," Diana bolted. "we are just--"  
  
"I'm sorry, I thought ya were--"  
  
"I-It's okay." said Ravin. "Sorry to cause you such trouble. We should get going."  
  
"It was nice to meet ya. I'll see ya around, then?"  
  
"Yeah!" exclaimed Joon. "Seeya, Fional!"  
  
"Date." Joon snickered.  
  
"Shut up!" Ravin shouted. "Your the one who didn't know what he meant!"  
  
"What is a date?" Diana asked.  
  
"A date is a..." Ravin bit his lip thinking up a good definition. "An engagement between two people of the opposite sex."  
  
"Oh,"  
  
"You've never heard of one?"  
  
"No, I have not."  
  
"Actually, I've never been on one either."  
  
(I doubt you could even get one.) Joon muttered.  
  
"What was that?!" howled Ravin. "I bet I could get one!"  
  
"Like Diana?"  
  
"... ... ..."  
  
"How about it?" Joon asked, flying onto the girl's shoulder. "You'd like to go on an engagement with Ravi, wouldn't you?"  
  
"Sure, I would." she answered, smiling that same soft smile.  
  
"Then it's settled! Tonight!"  
  
"Umm, Joon?" Ravin asked, as he started to blush. "Can I ask you a question--?"  
  
"Okay, okay, tomorrow then. Now onto the next city!" Joon started to fly to the city of Vane.  
  
"Wait, Joon! That's not what I was going to ask!"  
  
* * *  
  
After Ravin and Joon showed Diana Vane, Nota, and the new town of Schorr, Diana waited for the other two in the playground.  
  
"Why did you do that, Joon?" Ravin asked the cat, who was hovering in the air. The two of them were having the conversation in Ravin's room. "You know Diana gives me a tingling feeling inside whenever she's around. Don't you know how to get one's permission before blurting things out without thinking?"  
  
Joon shook her head and grinned. "Nope."  
  
"Well, learn." Ravin retorted. "Why do you want me to go with her, anyway?"  
  
"It's good for you!" Joon squeaked. "You need to hang around people your age! You can't just spend the rest of your pathetic life being a total social outcast!"  
  
"That's just the thing!" Ravin whispered. "I'm NOT human."  
  
Joon sighed and flew out of Ravin's room.  
  
Hmm. Ravin thought. My first date...Not that I need one...I could get one if I wanted to...I have the looks, the charm...Okay. I'll do it. Diana's a nice, quiet person. Nothing can possibly go wrong.  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin was nervously tapping his fingers on the table and biting his lip, staring at Diana, who was sticking her nose inside a menu. She was wearing one of Ruby's bright blue dresses, while Ravin just wore the nicest clothes he had: black baggy pants, a white t-shirt, and a leather vest.  
  
The red-headed waitress looked very impatient, but she was trying to stay calm for the sake of her job. Diana handed her the menu.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Okay, what?" asked the waitress.  
  
"It...sounds good...?"  
  
"But which one?" The waitress was starting to tear the pad of paper she was holding.  
  
"Uh...All of them?"  
  
The red-head looked at Ravin, who had the "she's not with me" look on his face.  
  
"S-She'll have what I'm having." Ravin stuttered. The woman nodded and took the menus.  
  
Joon was outside the window, watching Ravin and Diana's every move from a bush.  
  
"This is my first day being Cupid and I don't wanna blow this up in smoke." Joon got in a more comfortable position. "I'll watch them VERY closly, so if Ravin kisses Diana, I'll be able to taunt him about it! *Giggle, snort* " No, Joon, she told herself. This is a good thing for Ravi. Don't make him regret it.  
  
"What food did you order, by the way, Ravin?" Diana asked.  
  
"Sushi."  
  
"R-Raw fish?" she nearly turned green at the sound of it.  
  
"Yeah!" Ravin smirked. "It's not as bad as you think. It's actually quite good."  
  
"I will take your word for it."  
  
Ravin looked around, noticing that everyone in the restraunt didn't have fish, or anything fish. No, Ravin thought. It's not obvious that I'm a Dragon just because I eat fish! This is Vane, they never eat fish!  
  
After a while, the same red-headed waitress served the couple two plates of neatly cut and placed sushi.  
  
"Enjoy your meal. My name is Liah, I'll be your waitress. If you need anything just hollar." She looked at Diana with a "do you understand" expression on her face.  
  
"Thank you, Liah." the couple said, simutaneously. They started to eat.  
  
"I take it they don't have restraunts in Burg, huh?" asked Ravin, interrupting Diana's stare at the Blue Star.  
  
"N-No," She looked at Ravin, then at her food. As she started to eat it, Diana looked at the Blue Star now and again. "I have never eaten in one before."  
  
Ravin noticed that Diana wouldn't stop looking at the Blue Star. So, he decided to bring the subject on that.  
  
"Beautiful, isn't she?" Ravin asked.  
  
"Huh?" Diana blushed, looked at Ravin with an embarassed smirk.  
  
"What?" Ravin asked.  
  
"Were you talking to me?"  
  
"No--I mean yes...I was talking about you--I mean, to you!" Ravin started to color. Diana gave him a confused look. She couldn't quite understand what he was trying to say.  
  
"Uh, the Blue Star! It's pretty!"  
  
"...yes, I think it is very breathtaking. It is more beautiful from here." Diana wiped her mouth with the napkin, making sure she corrected herself speaking before her secret got out. "From Burg, that is."  
  
"You are really interrested in it aren't you?" Ravin sounded surpised. "You are the first person I've met who is more into the Blue Star than I am!"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah!" Ravin beamed. "Nobody's been interested in the Blue Star for years!"  
  
"Why is that?"  
  
Ravin shrugged. "Ever since Lucia restored the Blue Star, people on Lunar just ignore it." Diana blinked.  
  
"How do you know about that?" she whispered. She knew that people on Lunar aren't supposed to know about the restoration of the Blue Star, so that they don't travel to it and bring magic with them.  
  
Ravin's eyes widened. His mouth was agape. "I-I..."  
  
"I think you and I should talk." Diana said calmly.  
  
Ravin looked out the window with a worried look on his face. Oh, no! Ravin thought. This isn't good. When Mom and Dad find out I blurted out their secret, they'll have a cow! He looked off to the side. And I'll probably lose Diana.  
  
* * *  
  
Somewhere in the middle of the Frontier, which have gotten smaller over the years, there were three markers as graves dug deeply into the dead earth. These three markers represented three of the many exiles Althena sent here. The markers read "Royce, Xenobia, and Taben".  
  
"Taben, Royce, Xenobia,...the three of you have been offered another chance to succeed at what you have failed to do previously. AWAKEN!!! Your new master commands it!!"  
  
At the command, three dead hands shot up from the ground where the markers were. The free hands removed gravel to reveal the bodies they were attached to. Once the entire bodies were standing over the dug-up graves, the zombies' eyes started to glow red.  
  
There were two females and one male. One of the two women had short blonde hair, a blue tattoo of a bolt of lightning under her right eye, and was wearing a torn black cloak. The other woman had longer blonde hair and was wearing a revealing black dress, where you could see markings all over her scarred body. The man wore a torn purple cloak, broken glasses, and a dark brown beard.  
  
"Now, come and obey me!!!" yelled the same voice that summoned the three exiles. The zombies screamed a war cry as they disappeared from their graves.  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin and Diana were quiet for the rest of the evening. Once they reached Schorr, they started to talk about how one knew what.  
  
Schorr, the unimaginable dense, yet beautiful city, with winding roads and streets lined with little shops selling everything imaginable, but mostly sweets and fudge. The small sidewalks were littered with wooden benches and people. Large, different colored, heart shaped balloons were tied to almost every light post and door handle.  
  
Couples walked hand and hand down the small cobblestone streets and a man sitting at an isle who was painting a portrait of a couple, was yelling at a man demon-strating a new shaped kite because he had gotten the string wrapped around the leg of the isle.  
  
Others leaned against the railing of the large wooden bridge stretched over a large, man-made pond filled with small pebbles and turquoise water, while lilly pads floated on the surface. A large gold plaited statue of the Goddess Althena stood, spouting water from the base, in the middle.  
  
"Now, Ravin," Diana started, calmly. "How do you know about the restoration of the Blue Star and Lucia?"  
  
Ravin sighed. "To start it was all supposed to be a family secret, just between my parents, sister, and I. And...I am--Wait! How do YOU know about it--?"  
  
"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!"  
  
Ravin and Diana looked up when they heard a group of people scream in horror. More people were running out of the town, away from a certain area in Schorr.  
  
Joon peeked out from a nearby bush, the shriek inturrupted her spying. "Huh?!" she gasped, falling out from her hiding place.  
  
"Joon?!" The couple exclaimed.  
  
"I thought you were with Azura?!" Ravin yelled over the crowd. Diana looked up at the name, but the sight of a familiar person caught her eye.  
  
"That is Fional, is it not?" Diana asked. The Beastman was running from something, that soon followed afterwards. It looked like a giant dark green, two-headed snake with a green flaming mane.  
  
"THAT?!" Joon screamed, right before some fat lady with a string of licorice hanging in her pudgy hand ran into her.  
  
"No! Over there!" Diana pointed at Fional, who was drawing his bow and arrows and turning around to face the monster. He shot an arrow at the monster, missing it.  
  
"Blast!" Fional cursed. The Serpant raised one of it's heads, with a roar, and swung at Fional, knocking him back.  
  
"We've gotta help him!" Ravin yelled, running towards the Beastman. Diana and Joon followed. "Fional! Hold on!"  
  
"Thank Althena." Fional called back to him after noticing the three of them, trying to stand up. As the party got in battle position, Joon flew higher in the air.  
  
"What IS that thing?" she called down to them.  
  
"They call it a BiSerpant." Fional replied. "It's chest seems to be it's weak spot. Aim for dat wit whatever kind o' weapons ya got!"  
  
"Dammit, I left my dagger at home, Joon!" Ravin swore, feeling around his belt where he usually keeps it.  
  
"Looks like you'll have to use your magic, Ravin." Joon responded, flying down in front of the two-headed snake, blowing bubbles in it's faces. The Serpant bellowed and threw its enormous heads in the air, launching its first attack on the party. It smacked the ground with it's heads, causing it to shake and break. Diana created a shield around herself, making herself hover inches above the ground so she didn't even feel the quake. However, Fional and Ravin were weakened by it after they recovered from falling. "FLASH ARROW!!!" Fional lobed an arrow at the monster. This time the arrow struck in the neck of the right head, making it shriek, revealing long, enormous needle-like teeth, dripping with venom. The head wavored, thrashing about in the air.  
  
Just at that moment, Diana's sheild lost power and she dropped to her feet.  
  
The flailing head with its dripping teeth lashed out at Diana, gripping her arm with its teeth and blocking her from getting away with one of its two claws.  
  
"AHH! Get it off!" Diana cried, kneeling on the ground to relieve pressure, it not working at all. Tears were streaming down her cheeks by the time Ravin (Fional was distracting the left head with a swarm of Cupid's Arrows) had run to her side, unhinging the dead, lolling head from her arm. The monster's arm went limp. As soon as her wound hit oxygen, it started to bubble green, like acid.  
  
Ravin ripped a small green pouch from his belt, and poured the contents, shredded, dried Purity Herb, over the wound, which dried up instantly, leaving nothing but perfect skin. Diana looked at him; Ravin looked at her. She mouthed the words "thank you" to him and he started to smile.  
  
"Ravin, hit dis thin' wit somethin', will ya?! I keep missin'; de damn thing won't sit still, even when it's Charmed!" Fional called to him.  
  
Ravin stood, raising his hands over his head and called, "FLAMING ICE!!!" With that, a large spout of frozen fire rose from the air, and shot at the remaining head, freezing it.  
  
The Serpant finally disappeared in a puff of red smoke with the final blow from Ravin.  
  
"Well, that was easy!" Joon grinned.  
  
"Hmph, easy for ya maybe," Fional said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.  
  
"Fional, how did that thing get to Schorr?" Diana asked the Beastman, as she rubbed her once-wounded arm.  
  
"Monsters come to Schorr every other day." Fional explained. "Ever since I met ya guys, they've been comin' in larger groups. I've been told by me Pop, Izmere, dat I was to protect Schorr from monsters. But NEVER 'ave I battled creatures like dat Serpant."  
  
"If you like, we can help you protect Schorr." Ravin insisted.  
  
"Beauty, mate! I'll tag along wit ya three until dese folk can protect demselves sometime!"  
  
"Can we go home now, Ravin?" Joon yawned. "I'm getting sleepy."  
  
* * *  
  
The party then headed back to Taben's Peak. As Fional met Nall and Ruby, he took out a jug of wine and the three adults had their own little party getting drunk. Joon went to bed and Ravin and Diana went out to the playground to finish their conversation.  
  
Diana first explained to Ravin that she was from the Blue Star and that she was the daughter of Lucia and Hiro.  
  
"Hold the phone!" Ravin inturrupted. "You couldn't have SEEN the restoration of the Blue Star! That was years ago! That would make you at least 100 years old!"  
  
"Yes...?"  
  
"No, offense, I mean," Ravin pointed his finger at Diana, raised an eyebrow, and grinned. "Looking good, but--"  
  
"What is wrong with being immortal?"  
  
"Nothing, but...that's just the thing." Raving scratched his head, trying to laugh. "This is gonna be hard to explain to you, but...I am the son of Nall and Ruby, the White and Red Dragons. I am also immortal. Heh."  
  
"As is Bianca, for she is your sister?" Diana made a face. "I-I mean-- "  
  
"I know what you mean," he laughed. He sighed and shrugged. "So now you know..."  
  
"And now you know that I am from the Blue Star."  
  
It was past midnight when all of them went to bed; Ravin, Diana, Nall, Ruby, and Fional. The Beastman slept like a log on the floor in Ravin's room; Joon sleeping on Ravin's pillow.  
  
Diana was in the arms of a nightmare again, only this time the dream was different. She dreamed of her mom, like she is now. She was standing in the doorway of the tower, looking up at Lunar. Diana saw a familiar demon- like shadow glide through space towards the Blue Star. It flew down the atmosphere and attacked Lucia with a magma bomb.  
  
Diana's eyes snapped wide open and cried out her mom's name. She noticed it was just a dream and tried to go back to sleep, but she couldn't.  
  
"Hmm." Diana whispered. "I have never had this problem before." She tried to fall asleep again and again for several minutes, but still couldn't. She decided to go see if Ravin was awake. She walked down the hall and opened the door. "Ravin?" she whispered. No answer. "Ravin, are you awake?" she whispered a little louder.  
  
"Huh...?" Ravin rolled over in his bed to face the door. "Diana, w- what is it?" He blinked at the light coming from the doorway and covered his eyes with his hand.  
  
"It is kind of dumb, but I need to get it off of my chest..." She walked in. "So to speak."  
  
"Here." Ravin sat up in his bed and patted the side of it, allowing Diana to sit. "What's bothering you at this time of night?"  
  
"First of all, I am sorry for waking you."  
  
"It's okay."  
  
"Second, this might sound foolish to you, but I had this dream--" Diana put her hands on her knees. "And I know it is just a dream, however, this one was of my mother."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"Something, that seemed so familiar to me, attacked her."  
  
"What was it?"  
  
"It was like a dragon, only not like Althena's Dragons, this one was larger and skeletal, and was more like a shadow."  
  
"Do you think that this dream is something you're supposed to know?"  
  
"I-I am not sure..." Diana looked at him, her eyes were almost tearing. "But what if it DOES mean something? What if something terrible is going to happen to my mother? I told my father that I would take care of her and the Blue Star if anything happened..." Diana's voice cracked in panick.  
  
Ravin grabbed her hand, knowing she was afraid. "Diana, you are going to be just fine; Lucia's going to be fine. I promise."  
  
"It is not just the vision that worries me, Ravin." Diana squeezed his hand. "When the time comes and I have to keep the Blue Star safe, I am afraid that no one nor my mom will be there to guide me. What if I mess up? What if...I...?"  
  
"You won't be alone when you protect the Blue Star." Ravin put his hand under Diana's chin to have her look him in the eyes. "I promise you that Lucia will be there...and so will I." Diana really looked into his soft brown eyes. She could sense several feelings within his stare. A mixture of certainty, fear, and love. Love? How can that be? No one can fall in love in three days! Love at first sight was a myth! Diana didn't believe in that! But she knew what she saw and she saw that Ravin REALLY cared for her.  
  
Ravin looked deeply into Diana's brown eyes. He saw something in them that he'd never seen before in a girl. What he saw in her eyes seemed to be her soul. Was Diana meant to be his love if he could see her soul? Ravin seemed to have no control over his hand when he brought Diana's lips to meet his own. Once their lips brushed against each other, with just the gentlest touch (which was probably as far as that kiss had gotten to) there were so many wonderful feelings at once.  
  
Once they broke the incomplete-kiss, Ravin and Diana looked at each other lovingly. Ravin thought that he'd never feel love like this. He knew Diana loved him the way he did her. Diana squeezed his hand one more time before she stood up to walk back to her room. When she opened the door wide enough to walk through, she glanced back at Ravin and smiled. He smiled back. Diana walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Ravin sighed and plopped back onto his pillow like he was on Cloud 9. Joon yowled in pain.  
  
"Oh, crap! Joon! I'm SO sorry!" Ravin cried out.  
  
"You almost broke my back, Dragon-ditz!" Joon yelled. "You big oaf!"  
  
"I said I was sorry!"  
  
* * *  
  
Diana was still sleeping when it was morning. Ravin peeked in her room to see if she was waking up, but she was still asleep. He sat down on the floor outside her door. There was nothing to do since the kids were all eating whatever Ruby was making, Joon was in the Blue Dragon cave with her mother, and Fional had left for Schorr.  
  
Diana's wonderful dream of a shirtless Ravin suddenly switched to her previous nightmare. The scream of Lucia caused Diana to wake up gasping and shrieking. Ravin, panicking, burst back into her room.  
  
Diana screamed, as Ravin opened the door. "Ravin! Do you not know when to knock?!"  
  
"I'm so sorry!!" Ravin covered his eyes and looked away from Diana in her nightgown. Diana sighed with relief and rushed over to him. "Take me to the Blue Spire! I think my mother is in trouble!"  
  
"What do you mean?" Ravin faced her, trying not to peer at anything below her neck.  
  
"Something has happened to my mom! This is urgent, Ravin!"  
  
"Okay, okay," Ravin tried to calm her down. "Get dressed and I'll take you."  
  
The two of them ran and ran until they got into a forest, where Ravin transformed into a white Dragon.  
  
"Get on my back, Diana!" Ravin ordered. Diana was too shocked to move. "Diana!!"  
  
"Right." Diana leaped onto Ravin's back and he started to fly. The girl, like Joon, was hanging onto Ravin's mane for dear life.  
  
Ravin flew over the Blue Dragon Cave.  
  
"Ravin!!!" Joon was calling from below.  
  
"Huh?" The Dragon looked down. He saw a blue cat flying up towards him. "Joon!"  
  
"What's the rush?!" the cat asked.  
  
"Diana says there's something wrong! I gotta take her to the Blue Spire!" Ravin started to fly faster, when Joon clutched onto Diana's shoulder.  
  
Once the trio got to the Blue Spire, Ravin changed back into human form, grabbed Diana's hand, and started to climb the stairs into the spire. They battled some monsters along the way, but they finally made it to the seventh floor. Diana got onto the platform.  
  
"Wait! What are you doing?" Ravin asked.  
  
"I am going to the Blue Star."  
  
"Then, I'm coming with you."  
  
"But--"  
  
"No! I'm coming with you. Something might've happened to Lucia and I'm not going to sit and do nothing."  
  
"Ravin..." Diana whispered. "Alright. Get up here." Ravin ran on the platform, Joon hanging on his shoulder. Diana consentrated hard to imprint her will upon transporting them to the Blue Star. She gathered the field of energy that constituted her own aura, and let it merge with that of Ravin and Joon next to her, and the swirling silvery strands that were the wind. After a while, the trio was floating higher and higher up the tower, gathering speed as they went, and soon they were moving faster than the speed of light.  
  
Before Ravin knew it, all of them were in a familiar blue tower, yet something was different about it.  
  
"There are monsters in here?!" Diana growled, seeing a group of Crystal Knights floating towards them. Ravin, Diana, and Joon gave it their all in trying to defeat the 3 Knights. "We have to hurry." she told Ravin. He led the way and started to run as fast as he could, dodging as many monsters battles as possible.  
  
The party finally reached the top of the Blue Tower. And there, lying on the ground lifeless, Ravin saw Lucia. He ran over and sat her up, using his arm for support.  
  
"Mom! Mom!!" Diana screamed, gently shaking her mother's shoulders. "Please, you have to wake up."  
  
"Ugh..." Lucia opened her eyes to see three faces staring at her with concern. One was her daughter and she didn't recall the other two. "S...Diana..."  
  
"What happened?" Ravin asked.  
  
"T...The Death Wraith..." Lucia whispered. "Zophar's four Demons...is alive..."  
  
"Wha...?" Diana breathed.  
  
"He tried to...kill us...you, your father, and I...once before...Hiro died. Hiro...saved me and also you...as a baby." Lucia tried to grab her hand. "I...thought the Death Wraith would be...dead, but...now that Hiro is gone...and the Death Wraith is still alive...he thought that...I was weak, so he tried to kill...me...Now he is after...you, Diana."  
  
"Me?" Diana asked. "Mom...are you okay?"  
  
"I will be...Do not worry about me."  
  
"Diana," said Joon. "Can't you heal her, like you healed Ravin?"  
  
"Let me see." Diana examines her wounds. She shook her head. "No...I cannot. These wounds were caused by magic more powerful than mine. Mom will have to heal on her own, but it will take a long while." Diana stood up. "Ravin, can you help me bring her inside?"  
  
"I can get her by myself, thanks." Ravin scooped Lucia up in his arms and carried her down the stairs. Diana led him into her mother's room and he set Lucia on her bed. Diana put the blankets over her.  
  
"Are you sure you will be okay?" asked her daughter.  
  
"All I need is...rest for a couple of...weeks."  
  
"Weeks?" Joon shrugged.  
  
"Would you not want to go inside of your crystal until then?" Diana offered. "You will heal faster."  
  
"Yes...I can...put myself inside of it. After that...I am going to...vanquish the Wraith...once and for all...before he...causes trouble on...Lunar and the Blue Star."  
  
"No, Mom." objected Diana. "The Death Wraith is after me now. This is my fight and I will win it."  
  
"This is serious, my daughter." Lucia whispered. "The Death Wraith is...too powerful...I do not want you...getting killed..."  
  
"She won't." Ravin assured me. "I'll protect your daughter, Lucia."  
  
Lucia looked at him for a minute. She knew he meant what he said. But wait. How did HE get here? Who WAS he? Lucia rolled her eyes at her questions. If Diana knew and trusted this human, then she will also. Lucia nodded.  
  
"If you promise not to do anything crazy, Mom, I am going back to Lunar."  
  
"Yes, try to...hide there." Lucia closed her eyes to sleep for a few minutes. "Do whatever...you can to defeat...the Wraith...You may leave now." Lucia opened her eyes again. "Wait. Diana!"  
  
"Yes...?"  
  
"Take my...Pendant."  
  
"But...Mom, it does not work anymore." Diana told Lucia, taking it from the picture frame.  
  
"I know...but...take it anyway...It might aid you, somehow."  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin and Diana and Joon were all silent on their way home, the exception of Ravin's wings flapping. They had already used the Blue Spire to get back to Lunar and it was now night there.  
  
Ravin could tell that Diana was worried. He decided that when they got home, he'd talk it over with her on what they should do to keep hidden until they can do something.  
  
Joon went home to her mother, Azura, and Ravin and Diana went back to Taben's Peak. Diana went to the playground and kneeled next to the rail to stare at the Blue Star to think. Ravin walked up to her.  
  
"Diana," he said. "What are we going to do?"  
  
"Well," she started. "First, we have to find someone who will fight along with us. Both you and me cannot fight the Death Wraith by ourselves."  
  
"That's true."  
  
"And we will need the help of the Four Dragons." Diana bit her lip. "But...will your parents accept?"  
  
"Of course they will. They have to; it's their duty to protect Lunar for all costs."  
  
"But they cannot give us the magic as humans, they have to be Dragons in order to give the power."  
  
"That shouldn't be too hard."  
  
"It is easier said than done."  
  
Ravin remembered that in order to achieve the Dragon Magic, you had to pass the Dragon's trials. "Oh...yeah. I forgot."  
  
"May we leave in the morning?"  
  
"Yes." Ravin touched her shoulder. "Get some sleep. I'll go over it all with my folks."  
  
The next morning.  
  
Diana was packing the little clothes and items she had for her and Ravin's journey. She swung her pack over her shoulder and put Althena's Sword in it's sheathe. There was a knock on the door.  
  
"Yes?" she called.  
  
"It's me: Ravin." He walked in. "Fional's coming with us, if you don't mind."  
  
"He is?" asked Diana.  
  
"Yeah. You said that we couldn't fight alone. So he agreed to help us."  
  
"H-He knows that--"  
  
"Fional promises NOT to tell anyone." Ravin held out his hand. "He's waiting for us."  
  
"But who will watch over the children?" Diana asked Ravin.  
  
"A responsible teen, who's lived here all her life. Her name is Neri."  
  
"Oh, okay."  
  
"G'morning, ya two!" Fional greeted the couple. " 'Ey, where's dat chubby blue cat dat follows ya 'round, Ravin?"  
  
"She'll meet us in Takkar." Ravin told Fional.  
  
"Dat's on da way to Zulan, isn't it?" the Beastman asked.  
  
"Yeah, it might take a day or so, so we can restock up on Herbs and stuff there before we go to the White Dragon Cave." Ravin smiled at Diana and Fional. "Shall we go?"  
  
"Yes, sir!" Fional grinned. The party started to head out north of Taben's Peak. "'Ey, if yer a Dragon, why doncha turn into one and fly to de cave?"  
  
"I can't transform around here." Ravin exclaimed. "People will see me and I'll get in deep trouble."  
  
"Understandable." 


	2. Lunar 3Chapter 2

LUNAR 3 Twisted Realites Chapter Two: Lament  
  
So Ravin, Diana, and Fional first headed to Meribia, where Fional said that Izmere can give them easier transportation, when Ravin couldn't transform into a Dragon. He said that Izmere had an extremely old ship called the Hispaniola. Izmere was in control of the ship when it was his job as the captain, but he hasn't sailed it since he became the Blue Hero of Meribia.  
  
"Where IS Izmere, by the way?" Ravin asked.  
  
" 'E's probably in 'is office." Fional paused. "I mean, where 'e 'elps people, not in da restroom."  
  
"I was just gonna say..." laughed Ravin. When they came to the doors where Izmere would be, the trio over heard an argument through the doors. "Huh?"  
  
"Shh! Listen." Fional leaned closer to the door to eavesdrop on his father and whoever he was arguing with.  
  
"That machine is out of control, Izmere!" yelled a voice of a young man. "The Neo-Grindery has already destroyed several large cities!"  
  
"Whadoya expect from a old man?!" growled the voice of Izmere. "I can't stop it wit me own 'ands!"  
  
"The least you could do was lend me some of your Shields." said the younger man.  
  
"If yer da leader o' Althena's Gaurd, ya come up wit yer own weapons!" Izmere objected. "Me city's gotta 'ave defense too ya know."  
  
"Well, since your being so stubborn about it, you can forget that I ever came here, old man!" the man shouted, slamming the door, the party was listening against, open. No one could see his face, but the only thing visable about him was his white armor and his shiny black hair.  
  
"Hm," Fional walked into the room and to his father. "Who was dat?"  
  
"Jus a unit-free freak o' nature." Izmere replied. "What brings ya 'ere to Meribia, m'boy?" He clapped Fional on the shoulder.  
  
"Me mates, 'ere, need some transportation, Pops." Fional explained. "We're gonna travel to...uh...Caldor Isle and we don't 'ave a ship." He scratched his head.  
  
" 'Ow 'bout..." Izmere looked at Fional's friends and bit his lip. "da Hispaniola?"  
  
"Dat thing?" Fional exclaimed. "But it's for da museum, ain't it?"  
  
"Not THAT Hispaniola! The new an' imporved Hispaniola."  
  
"What? But dat's yers."  
  
"Me sailin' days are over, m'boy. I'm retired an' I gotta city to look afta since that...that...Neo-something is on da loose."  
  
"Well...thanks, Pops." Fional smiled. "Don't worry, I won't crash it. You've taught me well!" * * *  
  
The next day Fional was controling the Hispaniola. Izmere apointed several crew members to help with the stearing and cleaning and preparing food and such.  
  
Ravin, Diana, and Fional were low on accessories. They were ahead of schedule since one sailor took control of the wheel over night. They were near Takkar, so they stopped the ship near the shore, and the trio took a small rowboat to the beach. It was all plains, practially, in the northern part of the Katarina Zone. In the distance there were snow-capped mountains, where the town of Zulan was. Behind the hills, just west of the beach, was where Takkar would be.  
  
"Dat'd be Takkar Mt. Pass," said Fional. "We should be in Takkar before dark."  
  
"At least we are making progress." said Diana.  
  
"I hope Joon is making out okay," Ravin wondered, concerned. "I don't know what trouble she can get herself into without my supervision."  
  
They ran into a few monsters along the Pass. As Fional had predicted, they made it through Takkar Mt. Pass by dark.  
  
"What did I tell ya?" Fional laughed, triumphantly. "Dis is beautiful!"  
  
Fional's laughing was interrupted by a loud, echoing bellow.  
  
"W...what was that?" Ravin whispered. The howling was becoming louder and louder. A huge dark green bull, with bright green flames around it's mane stampeded around the corner. The monster attacked first, flaming the battlefield entirly.  
  
"ICE LANCE!!!" Ravin impaled the Bull with a criss-cross of giant icicles.  
  
"GLACIAL TOTAL ASSULT!!!" Diana summoned the Ice Element and the battlefield was snowing and hailing at the same time. The Bull attacked again, using a more powerful flame attack, setting everybody on the battlefield ablaze. Fional used a Healing Nut on himself, for he was the one with more damage. Ravin and Diana used the same magic attacks on the Bull over and over, while Fional healed them with items. But the Bull kept on attacking twice during each round, making it nearly impossible to stay alive.  
  
"I don't think we can beat this thing!" Ravin yelled, kneeling and holding his wounded arm.  
  
"We HAVE to, Ravin!" Diana called. "If we do not, Lunar and the Blue Star--"  
  
"MONSOON!!!" summoned a young feminine voice. After the voice, it started to rain heavily on the battlefield. Then a wild river of water came pouring into the Pass. Ravin, Diana, and Fional scrambled to the top of the Pass before they were swept away by the river, which the bison monster was.  
  
"You alright?" asked a red-headed young woman.  
  
"We're fine," said Ravin, standing up. "Thank you for your help."  
  
"You seem awfully familar," exclaimed Diana. "Are you not the waitress we met at the restraunt in Vane?"  
  
"Yeah," Ravin smiled. "What was your name? It started with an L didn't it?"  
  
"Yes, it's Liah." she said. "I noticed you guys were battling that bull with magic. You three were pretty good at it. You want to join the Magic Guild??" Liah asked excitedly, pulling a piece of paper from her cloak. "My mother, Miaka Ausa, will be verrrry pleased. She's been TELLING me to go gain members for the Guild and--"  
  
"Uh, no tank you, miss," refused Fional, giving the paper back to Liah.  
  
"Oh..." Liah whined. "Oh, well! It doesn't matter. What are your names, by the way?"  
  
"I'm Fional," he smiled. "Dese are me mates, Ravin and Diana. We were just heading to Takkar, until we ran into dat monster." Fional pointed behind himself with his thumb.  
  
"Takkar, huh?" Liah smiled. "I'm staying the night there in a small hotel! You want to come? We can talk over a nice cup of juice!"  
  
"I prefer ale." Fional guffawed.  
  
"Let us hurry." said Diana. "I would like to get up bright and early tomorrow, so that we can get to Zulan."  
  
"Did you say Zulan?" Liah asked.  
  
"Why, yes, I did," Diana smiled. "Why?"  
  
"That's where I was going tomorrow!" Liah squealed with joy. "My best friend Aimee is the Healer there! I was going to visit her!"  
  
"That is very nice of you, Miss Liah!" Diana smiled and clapped her hands. "Going out of your way to visit a working friend. Maybe we can travel there together. Is that alright, Ravin? I'd like to get to know Liah."  
  
"Sure it's okay, Diana." Ravin put his hand on her shoulder. "Liah, you said you were staying the night in Takkar. I hope we're not ruining anything for you."  
  
"No, you're not. It's a pleasure making friends with fellow Mages!" Liah smiled.  
  
"Mages?" exclaimed Fional "No, we really aren't Mages. We're just--"  
  
"Let's get going then." Liah started to follow over the trail that leaded into Takkar, with Ravin, Diana, and Fional following.  
  
* * *  
  
"Ravi!" exclaimed Joon, popping out of a barrel. She flew over to him. "I thought that you'd NEVER get here! But you should've came tomorrow: that barrel's full of yummy fish!"  
  
"Oh, Joon," said Ravin.  
  
"Who's this?" the cat asked, looking at a confused Liah.  
  
"This is Liah." said Diana. "She is a Mage."  
  
"Really?!" Joon flew over to Liah. "Are you really a Mage??"  
  
"Are you really a talking cat??" Liah asked.  
  
"Is a Mage short for MAGICIAN?! Ooh! Lemme see some magic tricks! Puh- LEEZE?!" Joon made a sad puppy face.  
  
"No, I'm not a Magician. And Mage isn't short for it."  
  
"Awe..." Joon dropped to the ground.  
  
"I'm sorry, kitty."  
  
"I'm NOT a cat! Why does EVERYONE take me for a cat?!" Joon yelled. "I am a Drag--!!" Ravin put his hand over her mouth.  
  
"Shh! Do you want poachers after us?!" Ravin whispered. He looked around the people in Takkar. He noticed one extremly pale man, wearing a long black cloak, silently looking at them. He squinted his eyes at Ravin, who was scowling, and walked away. Diana saw the man and she whispered:  
  
"I think we should go inside."  
  
"Come on." said Liah. She took the party inside a small hotel and inside her room, without the guy behind the desk saw them. "Now, tell me what you're doing in Takkar."  
  
"We're just supposed to be pickin' up Joon, 'ere." Fional roughly rubbed Joon's little head.  
  
"Ugh!" Joon looked up at the Beastman and gave him an evil look.  
  
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh!" Fional laughed.  
  
"Are you visiting a sick relative in Zulan?" Liah asked.  
  
"Sick?" Ravin asked.  
  
"Yeah, there's a disease spreading in Zulan and people are dying almost every day." Liah shrugged. "That's what's Aimee's there for and I bet she's getting payed a fortune with the lives she's saving. Since she's working like a horse, I'm going over to visit her and her mega-lame fiance, who's name I forgot, to try and cheer her up."  
  
" 'Ey," whispered Fional. His ears twitched. "Do ya 'ear that?"  
  
"Hear what?" said Joon.  
  
"This'll be da second time I've eavesdropped." Fional put his head closer to the wall and listened to a couple of men talking in the room nextdoor.  
  
"Do you think that dragon we saw the other day could be one of Althena's Dragons?" asked one man.  
  
"It wasn't deformed like all the other dragons we've seen; it must be." said the other.  
  
"What do we do once we find it and capture it?" asked the first man.  
  
"We raise the price that we agreed on for 1,000,000 silver instead of 3,000." the second man snorted. "Since it might be one of the Four Dragons and we capture it, we'd be the strongest beings around next to the Goddess herself. We'll be rich once we sell the monster."  
  
"Oh, no!" Ravin whispered, backing away from the wall. "They know there's a Dragon out there!"  
  
"What?" asked Liah. "What's wrong? What Dragon?"  
  
"I'll tell you later. Right now, we're in deep trouble if they catch up to us."  
  
Ravin tried to explain that he was a Dragon and that he, Joon, and Fional were aiding Diana on a quest. Afterwards, Liah seemed a little freaked out.  
  
"Can we trust ya to keep dis lil' secret?" Fional asked.  
  
"Yeah, I won't tell ANYONE." Liah whispered. "I pinky-swear." Liah stuck out her small finger for Diana to link with. Diana seemed a little confused.  
  
"I do not understand." she said, blushing.  
  
"Give me your little finger." explained Liah. Diana did as she was told and linked fingers with Liah and shook them. "Cool." the red-head smiled.  
  
"Okay, we stay here one night and get out of here before they find us." said Ravin.  
  
* * *  
  
Early in the morning, the party left the hotel. Liah paid for the room and they started out the door. Before Ravin stepped outside, he looked around for the cloaked man he had seen yesterday.  
  
"The coast is clear!" Ravin whispered to his friends.  
  
It was almost noon when the party reached the mountains. It was snowing lightly at first, but as it got later in the day, it started to snow harder and get more windy. They ran into a few Albino Baboons and Razor Wolfs through the trail to the top of the mountain and everyone was running low on supplies.  
  
Their cheeks, ears, and noses were growing numb as the wind cut their faces, they were getting weaker and weaker with each passing minute.  
  
"It's...so...cold!" Joon shivered, curling up into a tiny ball on Ravin's shoulder.  
  
"We'll make it to Zulan, Joon." Ravin reassured her.  
  
"Joon, since yer a Dragon, can't ya breathe fire or anythin'?" Fional asked.  
  
"No, I'm afraid I can't. I'm a water Dragon, not a fire Dragon, like Ruby."  
  
"Blast!" Fional cursed.  
  
"Ravin, we should make camp," Diana asked, wrapping her father's cloak tighter around her face. "I cannot go on without resting..."  
  
"We can't stop, Diana," Ravin shrugged. "Not while the mountain is crawling with monsters." He took off the blanket he had wrapped around himself and wrapped it around Diana's shoulders. "Here."  
  
"What about you?" she asked.  
  
"You need it more than I do." Ravin put his arm around her and brought her closer to his body. He looked ahead, where Fional and Liah were. "You guys okay up there?!"  
  
Liah stuck her head out of the hood of the cloak she was wearing. "What?!"  
  
"I said, you guys okay up there!!"  
  
"We're okay!" Fional turned to Liah. "Is it much farther?"  
  
"It shouldn't be." she replied.  
  
"Aah!!" Joon screamed. "Look! Up there!! What IS it?!" Everyone looked up the trail and saw a giant blue penquin with a small horn on its head and claws on its flippers.  
  
"It's ugly!!" Fional growled.  
  
"SQUAAAWWWWWKKK!!!" the monster screached. It plopped down on its belly and pushed itself down the trail and hit everyone in the party. When it was done attacking them, it used its beak to push itself up on its feet. Joon blew bubbles in its face, which didn't do alot of damage. Ravin figured that since it lived in the mountains, it probably wasn't used to fire, so he would use fire magic against it.  
  
"FLAME BOMB!!!" Ravin yelled, as a ball of fire was launched at the Ave. He was right: fire magic weakened it more. "Hey!" he called to the rest of the party. "Use fire! It's the only way to damage it!"  
  
"Okey dokey!" Fional grinned. "FLASH ARROW!!!" The arrow exploded on the monster's neck. "Wow. That did aLOT." he groaned sarcastically.  
  
"Let me show you how it's done, Fifi!" Liah laughed at Fional. "CATASTROPHE!!!" Liah summoned an omni-elemental attack spell. The spell was made up of Ice, Water, Lightning, Earth, and mostly Fire, weakening the Ave most. "Ha, ha!"  
  
Then Diana used a fire spell. "ATOMIC BURN!!!" A globe of fire surrounded the monster and, from the inside, fired beams of lightning and fire.  
  
"Whoa! Diana! That was awesome!" Ravin smiled.  
  
"Thank you!" she blushed, forgeting about the cold.  
  
"All of this fire magic is warming me up!" Joon grinned and started to scratch at the penguin's eyes. Then it disappeared in a puff of red smoke, like all of the previous monsters they had battled. "Woooooooooo, hooooooo!!" she laughed. "Now to Zulan!"  
  
Zulan wasn't what they expected at all. The ground was covered in fluffy white snow and small patches of slippery ice. Icicles hung from the edges of the deserted-looking houses and the large pond in the middle of the city, but there were no kids skating on it. In fact, there weren't many people around at all. Maybe it was because of the disease Liah had mentioned. There was a small cottage with a red cross as the sign.  
  
"That's where Aimee will be." Liah said, shivering. "Let's hurry; I'm still cold."  
  
The party walked into the cottage. The first thing they saw was a small family thanking a beautiful young woman for healing their three-year- old child.  
  
"We can never thank you enough, Nurse Aimee!" cried the mother, cradling her child in her arms. The nurse, who the woman addressed as Aimee, blushed and simpered.  
  
"I...I'm speechless, ma'am," Aimee looked at the child. "I'm just glad I was able to help."  
  
"What do we owe you, then?" asked the father.  
  
"Twenty silver." Aimee whispered, seeming almost ashamed of taking families' money. The man handed her a bagful of silver, the woman said 'good-bye' and 'thank you', and the child gave Aimee a big hug. And the family was on their way. Aimee looked towards the door and saw a familiar face.  
  
"Liah!!" she cried, running to her best friend to embrace her.  
  
"Hey, Aimee!" Liah greeted, hugging Aimee.  
  
"Oh, it's great to see you," Aimee started to cry. "I haven't seen you in ages."  
  
"Good thing we kept in touch sending each other letters." Liah faced her friend. "So, where's the hero?"  
  
"Oh..." Aimee looked down. "He's going to be a little late. To pass the time, why don't you introduce me to your comrads?" she grinned.  
  
"I almost forgot!" Liah smacked herself in the forehead. "These are my newest friends: Ravin, Diana, Fional, and Joon. Joon's the cat..."  
  
"I'm NOT a cat!!" Joon squawked.  
  
"Couldn't tell by lookin' at ya!" Fional laughed.  
  
"You are SO gonna get it!" Joon got herself in a jumping position on Ravin's shoulder.  
  
"Not in here, Joon." moaned Ravin.  
  
"Don't just stand there!" cried Aimee. "Come in. Kick off your shoes and sit by the fire. You must be freezing. Do you want some hot chocolate?"  
  
"Yes!" the party exclaimed at once. Aimee giggled and went to her tiny kitchen to get the beverages for her quests.  
  
"I don't mean to be rude, but what brings you all to Zulan?" asked Aimee.  
  
"We're 'ere to get more supplies for a quest we're on." said Fional. "We'll be on our way by tomorrow."  
  
"How are you guys going to travel through the mountains?"  
  
"We're not." said Ravin. "We're going to the White Dragon Cave by ship. Since it's on an island and all."  
  
"Oh..." Aimee replied, giving everyone a mug of hot cocoa. "Why, praytell, do you want to go there? That's the lair of one of Althena's Four Dragons."  
  
"Well, that is why we are--" Diana was inturrupted when someone from outside knocked on the door.  
  
"Come in!" called Aimee. A familiar young man came in through the door. He was wearing white armor and a red cape and napsack and was wearing a large scarf around his neck. The man had black hair with a sharp widow's- peak on his forehead.  
  
"Hello, Aimee, my love." said the man, removing his scarf. Already Ravin didn't like him. He looked so familiar to Ravin, Diana, and Fional.  
  
"Hello, Trot." smiled Aimee.  
  
"Trot?" Joon made a weird face. "Trot?? What kind of a beef-witted, dense, dumb, goosey, numskulled, doltish, pinheaded, thick, simple, dead- between-the-ears name is THAT?!" Fional howled with laughter at Joon's retort at the man's name. Trot gave the two of them a warningful look.  
  
"How have you been, my dear?" Trot asked Aimee, as he walked over to her and kissed her forehead.  
  
" 'How have you been, my dear?' " mocked Liah.  
  
"Please, Trot..." she smiled. "You're embarrassing me." He kissed her again on the forehead. Aimee sighed. "I've been just fine, teddy bear."  
  
"Teddy bear?" Joon gaffawed. "Sheesh! How many stupid names does this guy HAVE?" Fional snickered loudly.  
  
"Why, hello, Liah!" Trot tried to act surprized. "I didn't know you were coming!"  
  
"I wish you weren't..." Liah scowled.  
  
"Anyway, Aimee. You will NEVER guess what I got!" Trot exclaimed.  
  
"V.D.?" Joon asked. Fional stuffed his face in his hands and muffled his laugh.  
  
"No, and I wasn't talking to you...cat." Trot turned back to his fiance.  
  
"I'm NOT a cat, you wiggy, spoiled, panty-wad pretty-boy!"  
  
The man turned back at Joon and gave her the look of a murderer. Then he ignored her and said: "Guess what I've found in the White Dragon's Cave," Trot reached inside of his backpack. "I went inside while the Dragon was gone and I got you this." He pulled out a huge diamond the size of a baseball and held it in front of Aimee. "It's--"  
  
"A Dragon Diamond?!" Joon shrieked. "Why did you waste your time getting that?! Don't you know it's actually Dragon--" Before she could finish, Ravin put his hand over her mouth and grinned.  
  
"I-It's quite beautiful," Aimee looked up at Trot. "But what do you plan to do with it?"  
  
"Why, I'm going to sell it." Trot beamed a smile. "We'll become rich, live in a mansion, get away from all of these sick peasants! We'll travel the world, you and me."  
  
"So soon?" Aimee frowned. "But what about children?"  
  
"I'll let you think about it, Aimee." Trot kissed her on the cheek and left without saying good-bye.  
  
"Who the bloody 'ell was 'e?" Fional asked Aimee.  
  
"He's my fiance." she answered.  
  
"What a freak show!" Joon laughed.  
  
"Joon," whispered Diana.  
  
"Don't be rude." said Ravin.  
  
"I agree with Joon," said Liah. "I never liked the guy, anyway. If he's making you do something you don't want to do, why not ditch him, Aimee?"  
  
"I love him dearly, Liah." Aimee faced her friend. "But he'll be back tomorrow and ask for my answer, which I won't be ready to give to him." She looked at Ravin. "May I join your group for a while? I'm going to need a long time to think about this. I promise I won't be a bother. I can help you."  
  
"Sure, you can join." smiled Ravin. "But what about the sick people here?"  
  
"I'm not the only Healer here. There are others and they can help here while I'm gone." * * *  
  
The party left at dawn, after collecting as many Herbs, Purity Herbs, Healing Nuts, Star Lights, Angel's Tears, Vials, and Cleansing Waters as their back packs could hold. Joon didn't help alot for the items were too heavy for her to carry in the air. They all hurried down an easier pass down the mountains and ran as fast as they could to the Hispaniola. By noon, they made it to the White Dragon Cave.  
  
"Don't worry about monsters in the cave, everyone." said Ravin. "There are only Mongrels in here, anyway. Besides those things, it'll be smooth sailing to my Dad's Lair."  
  
And Ravin was right: it didn't take very long finding their way through the labrinth of ice in the cave. They only had one more floor to go through before they were in the actual Lair.  
  
"See, Diana," Ravin told her with triumph in his voice. "We'll collect the Dragon Crests in no time."  
  
"What did Nall have in mind for the Trial?" Diana asked.  
  
"He just said to find him. He said that the maze was enough for a Trial."  
  
"What about that?" Joon asked, a bit scared of what was behind the corner. Everyone stood quiet and heard a soft breathing and hissing noise. "Is that Nall?"  
  
"No," whispered Ravin. "It's something else. Fional, why don't you see what it is?"  
  
"Yer da one who wants to know what it is." he objected.  
  
"Do not argue, you two." Diana pleaded. "I will look."  
  
"No, Diana." Ravin grabbed her shoulder, but she had already seen what it was.  
  
"It is a huge, hairy snake!" she whispered. Ravin looked around the corner and saw a white serpant with a silver mane around its head. Spread acrossed its forehead and sides were visciously long horns.  
  
"It's blocking our only way into the Lair!" Ravin exclaimed. "We're gonna have to fight it."  
  
"Fight?" Aimee bolted out. "I can't fight. I'm a Healer."  
  
"Don't worry, lil' miss," said Fional. "Da monster won't lay a finger on ya."  
  
"It hasn't any, Fional." Diana pointed out. "It is a serpant."  
  
"Well," Fional blushed. "...I..."  
  
"Hey, are gonna fight the damn thing? Or are we gonna chatter?" Liah growled.  
  
"Right." Fional cracked his knuckles. "Let's rock."  
  
The snake hissed a reply, stopping almost errect in front of the Lair, except for its constant swaying and hissing.  
  
"COMBUSTIBLE PROJECTILES!!!" Fional cried, sending an exploding bomb of arrows at the snake, hitting it in the chest area. Fional grinned as the snake swayed.  
  
The snake launched a large icicle back at Fional. hitting him in the shoulder.  
  
"Ugh!" Fional kneeled down, wincing in pain.  
  
Aimee threw her arm into the air and when green sparkles amerged from her palm, she had used Heal Litany on Fional.  
  
Meanwhile, Ravin had used Pyro Spheres on every turn, Diana used Atomic Burn, Liah used Catastrophe, and Aimee healed anyone who got injured by the Snake.  
  
"Dad?" Ravin called, as he looked inside the Dragon Lair. "Huh. He's not here, yet."  
  
"I'm here, now." Before everyone's eyes, a gigantic white furry Dragon appeared in the circular bed of ice. He had orange horns that led outward from the forehead, behind the ears. His front paws were black. His wings were feathered and ruffled with age. On the tip of his tail was an arrowhead-like spike that had a bony pattern on the sides. Sticking out of his bottom jaw were two large teeth.  
  
"You almost look just like him in your Dragon form, Ravin." Diana smiled at Nall.  
  
"I don't think I'm THAT hideous!" Ravin laughed. Fional, Liah, and Aimee weren't as comfortable looking as Ravin, Diana, and Joon were in front of a huge Dragon. They just stood quiet, not moving a muscle.  
  
"So, you found me." Nall shrugged. "Was it really that easy?"  
  
"I've been in here like a million times, Dad." Ravin grinned. "I practically know the place by heart."  
  
"Well, that's cheating. Should I give you the Crest?"  
  
"Come on, Nall!" Joon exclaimed. "Quit being such a dork!"  
  
"Alright, alright. Here you go." Nall closed his golden eyes and concentrated on the White Dragon Crest. Then the Crest appeared in mid-air and floated to Ravin. "You were meant to have THIS Crest, Ravin. It'll give you the power of the White Dragon Protect."  
  
"Wow," Ravin breathed, gawking at the Crest with the Dragon on it. "Thanks."  
  
Nall's mouth curved into a smile. "I've got two more things to give you, Ravin. Remember the White Dragon Wings?"  
  
"Yeah!" Ravin laughed.  
  
"They still got their old magic as they did a hundred years ago." Nall closed his eyes, consentrating on something, then the cave started to rumble. Everyone looked behind themselves and saw the ledge they were on leading another way. "Go that way, Ravin. There's something in there that I have never mentioned to you before. Equip it and it will Heal you, whenever you are injured in battle. It'll make you immune to all affects. Well, I've gotta get going. I'll see you soon! Go see Ruby, she'll tell you where to go." And Nall disappeared. Ravin, Diana, and Joon turned to the rest of the party. They were wide-eyed with their jaws dropping to the floor.  
  
"Was he THAT hideous?" Ravin asked them.  
  
Ravin and the others walked down the path that was now opened. At the end of it, there was a large crevasse. They all squeezed through it and was inside of a tiny, ice cave. On the far wall, there was a small dark blue crystal treasure chest, smaller than the others they have found. Ravin opened it and found a platinum ring with a White Dragon on it, with gems in it's feather-textured wings.  
  
"Whoa," Ravin breathed. "Quark's White Dragon Ring."  
  
"Quark?" Joon questioned.  
  
"The first White Dragon ever born." explained Ravin. "He was killed by Magic Emperor Ghaleon."  
  
"It was indeed a horrible day for Lunar that day, was it not?" Diana asked.  
  
"That's what my old man said."  
  
* * *  
  
"Where do we go, now?" asked Fional, turning the wheel on the Hispaniola to dodge some boulders.  
  
"Well, the Red Dragon Cave is where we go next." Ravin shrugged. "And her cave is on land inside a big volcano."  
  
"Where, on land, is it closest to?" Fional asked.  
  
"It's closest to Silvia." Ravin groaned.  
  
"Dat place is a dump!" Fional howled "Dere's robbers and murderers in dat town. Althena couldn't make me spend a night in dat place!"  
  
"Don't worry, we won't stay there! We'll just walk through."  
  
It was evening when the party reached the beach to Silvia. Definately not the best time to wander through a town of thievery. Silvia was extremly hot during the evening. The streets were covered in a redish-brown dust and absolutly no vegitation grew anywhere. Doors were hanging from the hinges of the many bars that made up most of the tan adobe buildings. Mixed music seeped from the doors and mixed in the air which smelled like booze.  
  
Ravin, Diana, and Joon went to the item shop to grab some Star Lights, while the others went inside the bar to get something Fional wanted.  
  
"Why the heck do you want to go inside a bar in SILVIA, Fional?" Aimee asked.  
  
"To pick up some ale!" the Beastman laughed, walking over to the woman wearing a tight bunny outfit.  
  
"Oh, sweet Mother-of-Pearl!" Liah moaned, rubbing her temples. "I think I'll wait outside. Come on, Aimee."  
  
"Hey, beautiful!" clucked a big hairy man, wrapping a finger in Liah's fiery locks. "Wanna come up ta my room tanight?" he asked.  
  
"Uh, NO!" Liah pushed her way past him. As she walked away, the man slapped her butt. "Why you jackass!!" Liah clenched her wand and raised it to hit the man in the head, but he had already grabbed her arm and tried to kiss her lips. He kissed her cheek once with his big moist lips.  
  
"Keep your hands off her!" yelled a male voice. Before he knew it, the man trying to kiss Liah was punched in the jaw and was tumbling over a bunch of tables and chairs. Liah looked up to see a handsome blonde young man about her age standing next to the pile of tables, who was facing the fallen man. "You okay, red?" he asked Liah.  
  
"Ex-CUSE me?!" Liah yelled. "My name is not 'red', it's Liah! And I had everything under control!"  
  
"Not from where I'm standing." he argued.  
  
"Then move!" Liah grabbed Aimee's wrist with one hand and put the other on her hip as she stormed out of the bar, without Fional. The man looked at the floor and saw the wand Liah was holding before. He picked it up and ran after her.  
  
"Red--I mean, Liah! Wait!"  
  
"Liah?" Fional gasped, turning away from the bunny lady. He started to run to the front door, but turned back to the lady. " 'Ey, I'll call ya later." Fional clicked his tongue at her and ran out the door.  
  
"Liah!!!" the man called.  
  
"What?!" she let go of Aimee's wrist and turned to the guy and gave him the evilest of looks.  
  
"Y...You...d-d-dropped--"  
  
"SPIT IT OUT!"  
  
"Youdroppedyourwand!!" he said quickly as he handed her the staff.  
  
"Oh..." Liah took the wand gingerly and looked at him. "Thanks. Why didn't you steal it?"  
  
"That was my plan, but then I'm like, 'What the hell do I need a wand for? There are no Mages around here! I'd have to go to Vane to sell this crummy old piece of junk!' " He whined and bit his lip, thinking about what she'd do to him after he'd said that.  
  
"This 'crummy old piece of junk' will fit right up your a--!" Liah shoved it in his face.  
  
"Well, so much for being nice." he grumbled.  
  
"You did it yourself."  
  
"Then you're welcome." he snapped the bandanna around is forehead. "Please let me introduce myself: I'm Ryan." He tried to grab her hand to kiss it, but she flinged it away from him.  
  
"Aha, ha ha," Liah laughed nervously. "You already know my name."  
  
"Liah, right?"  
  
"Nope, it's Rumplestiltskin." she said sarcastically.  
  
"Well, nice to know your real name, Rumplestiltssaggyskin."  
  
"I think I prefered being called 'red'." Liah whispered. Aimee smiled at them.  
  
"Liah!! Aimee!!" called Ravin from the item shop. "Let's get moving!! We want to get to Raculi tonight!" "Raculi?" Ryan asked Liah and Aimee before they left.  
  
"Yeah," said Liah.  
  
"We're on a quest."  
  
"Hey, can I join you guys?" he asked. "I don't mean to barge in, but..."  
  
"Sure, ya can!" laughed Fional from behind Ryan. He slapped the young man on the back. "It's nice to 'ave another man wit us! Liah's single, anyway. I'm sure she wouldn't mind."  
  
"Yeah, yeah," blushed Liah. "Now let's go." The four of them walked over to Ravin, Diana, & Joon. Ravin looked at Ryan & pointed his finger at him.  
  
"Hey," he said. "I know you."  
  
"Uh," Ryan was confused. "From where?"  
  
"Didn't I see you at Meribia?" asked Ravin. "In a bar?"  
  
Ryan started to panic. "Aah...Ba...Uh, I don't know what the hell your talking about!" * * *  
  
Once the party got to Raculi, they decided to sleep inside of the small hotel because Ryan didn't want anything to do with his old house. Ryan walked over to the lady behind the desk. She was shaking half to death at the sight of him.  
  
"Hey," Ryan whispered to the lady. "If you see Vincent, tell him I'm not here." Then he started back up the stairs where his and the others' room would be.  
  
"So, tell me about yourself, Ryan." said Liah.  
  
"Well, I'm the most wanted thief in Silvia." he said with a snort. "I've been rumored to have killed some people during robbing a place or someone, but don't believe in that stuff." he whispered. "A thief does not kill to get what he wants. And my brother Vincent, aka Red Hero of Raculi, has been after my butt ever since I can remember."  
  
"Your BROTHER??" exclaimed Joon. "After your BUTT? What, is his to big or something? Because you've got a nice one. At least Liah thinks so, she told me." Joon grinned at Liah, who was turning as red as her hair.  
  
"I'm going to sleep." Liah said quickly, laying down on the bed she was sitting on.  
  
* * *  
  
It was a peaceful night for Schorr. Everyone was in their homes asleep, awaiting for morning to come. The only noise in this town was coming from the fountain. Then, there was sonorous, harsh explosion. Schorr was bombed. Fire spreaded as quickly as the explosion came, not giving the people inside of the houses enough time to exit. There was screaming and crying as families burned to death. Soon, they were silent. The only sound now was the crackling of the fiery tongues on dry wood.  
  
But about a few miles away from Schorr, there were tracks of a large machine of some kind. These were the tracks of the Neo-Grindery. Two large cannons sticking out of the tower were smoking with exhaust from a blast of energy, probably built to destroy. From inside, there was a loud roar of pain from a monster.  
  
* * *  
  
A man wearing thick red armor kicked the door to the party's room down and barged in with a large sword in his hands. A few other men followed him in and grabbed everyone in the room, including Joon, who was trying to fly away and was now trying to scratch the man who held her wings in his grip. Diana used her shield to push away the warriors from her, but when she dropped her shield, the men grabbed her and held a knife to her throat, making Ravin feel helpless after he struggled to stop them. Fional swung his fists at the soldiers who attempted who capture him, but failed when five other men tackled him to the floor and held on to him tightly. Liah and Aimee couldn't do much since they were weaklings compared to the men who tied them in rope. Ryan recognized the man in red armor who came in first. The man sneered at the familiar face of Ryan.  
  
"Why, big brother, you seem to be prehended." the man laughed. "Now I can execute you for robbery, murder, and other crimes you've committed."  
  
"Vincent!" Ryan yelled.  
  
"Save your breath, Ryan," Vincent growled. "I'm sick of hearing your voice." The sandy blonde man turned to his soldiers. "Take them to the prison outside of here. I will deal with my bro., here, later."  
  
"What's happening?" Joon asked her friends, while trying to get out of the shackle around her body. She was hanging upside-down in the shackle that was connected into the wall. Her wings and arms were closed inside of it. "Why'd they throw us in the slammer?"  
  
"I don't know." said Ravin trying to pull the shackles on his wrists off of the wall.  
  
"Dis is Ryan's fault, dis is!" yowled Fional, standing on one leg, his wrists also in shackles connected to the wall. "If 'e didn't join our lil' group, we'd be in da you-know-where right now."  
  
"It's not Ryan's fault, Fional." whispered Liah. "He got locked up too, you know."  
  
After that everyone was quiet (with the exception of Joon's grunts to jerk her way from the shackle) because they knew Liah was right.  
  
"I wonder how Ryan's doing?" Aimee whispered.  
  
"He got put in another cell." said Liah. "Vincent said that he was going to talk to him."  
  
Vincent unlocked the cell to where Ryan was. Ryan, like the other members of the party, was pinned up against the wall. He sneered at his younger brother, when he pulled up a wooden chair to sit on.  
  
"So, I finally caught you," said Vincent. "And some other criminals in the process."  
  
"They are not criminals, Vincent!" Ryan objected. "They didn't commit anything! I was the one who joined them. There must be some way to get THEM out of here."  
  
"Will you fight?"  
  
Ryan thought about Liah and the others. "To the death." he said, emotion-less.  
  
"Good. Then we'll fight at dawn. And when I win, your friends get to stay here for life. And I will get what I want from you: your life." Vincent stood up, nodded at his brother and walked away, locking the cell first.  
  
* * *  
  
Ryan and Vincent met at dawn in the prison yard. Ravin and the others were still asleep, not knowing about the battle.  
  
Ryan grabbed his Broadsword; Vincent his Master Sword, and when the Blue Star shown light upon Lunar, the battle started. They charged at each other with a battle cry, swords in hand. Their swords clanged. Ryan circled warily, knowing better to commit himself too hastily with a warrior of Vincent's ability. Suddenly, Vincent lunged, finding an opening Ryan could've sworn was never there. He lept back, feeling his sword's very tip skim the tough leather of his vest just over his ribs. Good thing he was fast on his feet. He faked a stumble, then drove in to one side. A trickle of blood appeared on Vincent's left arm. First blood to Ryan and so soon! Vincent should never have fallen for an old trick like that. He drove again, straight this time. Vincent blocked his blow with his upraised sword and they strained against each other, nose to nose, blades locked.  
  
"Slowing up, little brother?" Ryan taunted. "Today's the day I beat you, Vincent."  
  
Ryan saw shock and anger flick across his brother's face, but there was no time for more. In a whirling flurry of steel he disengaged, almost wrenching Ryan's blade from his hand. The fight was on in earnest. To Ryan, time had seemed to slow as he and Vincent wove their difficult dance of death across the sands. All other concerns were forgotten as the world narrowed to himself, his opponent, and the gleaming steel they weilded.  
  
Vincent was getting more and more tired with each passing minute. Even dodging Ryan's blows were exhausting him. Now was the time for the final blow.  
  
"SONIC BREAKTHROUGH!!!" Ryan fired an enery bolt across the battlefield, striking anything, including Vincent, in its path. Vincent screamed in pain and he dropped to the floor. Ryan put his sword in it's sheathe and walked away, not wanting to actually kill his brother. And even though Vincent was hanging on by a string to life.  
  
"Ryan!" Vincent whispered. "Why did...you...spare my life?" Ryan didn't answer and kept on walking. The gaurds to the prison gave Ryan the keys to his friends' prison chamber. He unlocked the door and something he didn't expect happened. Liah cried with joy at the sight of him.  
  
"Oh, thank Althena!" she cried. "I'm so glad your okay! Where have you been? What happened to you and why?!" Ryan answered all of her questions, as he unlocked all of the shackles that were around the wrists of his friends. Liah cried out again and gave Ryan a big hug. That Ryan didn't expect either. He nervously embraced her back.  
  
* * *  
  
Ryan explained on the way to the Red Dragon Cave what he and Vincent had dealed on. Everyone was shocked, especially Liah. She thought that he'd rather spend his life in jail then help a group of strangers.  
  
After battling a gaggle of conflagrant monsters, Ravin sighed when he noticed that no Fiends were blocking the entrance to his mother's lair.  
  
"We're half way through all of this, Diana; we're almost through." Ravin said, smiling.  
  
"I am extremly excited about all of this, Ravin." Diana smiled back at him. "Soon this'll all be over with and Lunar and the Blue Star will once again live in peace."  
  
"Hm. You children haven't the slightest clue of what you are up against." cackled a low witch-like voice. Wind started to blow throughout the cave and as fiery winds knotted together and disappeared in a purple puff of smoke, a young woman holding a staff on one hand and a crystal ball in the other. She was wearing a dark green cloak and had a blue lightning tattoo under her right eye. Her eyes were slanted and the eye was red with a bright blue pupil, which matched well with her short sandy blond hair.  
  
"Who da bloody 'ell are ya, blondy?!" Fional growled.  
  
"I am Royce. A descendant of the forgotten Vile Tribe; a Sorceress." After Royce said her name, Diana frowned and clenched her fists, knowing she was under the command of the Death Wraith.  
  
"You! Now I remember who you are!" Diana exclaimed. "You were one of the many up against the last Dragonmaster! Dragonmaster Alex."  
  
"You are correct, miss." Royce grinned. "And you are Diana. The daughter of the, now dead, Goddess Lucia, restorer of the Blue Star, destroyer of the Dark God Zophar. Yes, the Death Wraith has explained the details to me, already."  
  
"What do you want with us?" Joon asked.  
  
"I simply want to slow down your journey." Royce explained.  
  
"You mean, all of those monsters we've battled, and the explosions of villages, YOU sent those?!" yelled Ravin.  
  
"Not just me," the Sorcoress grimaced. "I've had help."  
  
"From who?!" Ravin demanded.  
  
"You will find out soon enough." Royce held up her crystal ball and looked into it as a flame crackled inside. "For now, you will deal with my pets." Then the flame inside of the sphere shot out of it and landed in fromt of the party. It formed into the shape of a dog with three heads. When the flame cleared, the dogs' mane and pads on its feet were on fire, leaving the rest of it to look like an ordinary doberman (with the exception of it's two extra heads). "My Hellhound is going to teach you how to play dead," And Royce disappeared in a puff of red smoke. She spoke, her voice off. "While I deal with the Red Dragon."  
  
"No!!" Ravin shouted.  
  
"HHHOOOOOOOWWWWWWWLLLLLLL!!!" the Hellhound bellowed, making it's defense higher.  
  
"ICE WALL!!!" Ravin yelled, as ice surrounded and towered over the Hellhound, afterwards melting and pouring water over the monster. Ravin used Ice Wall and Ice Lance on every turn. Diana used her Glacial Total Assult. Joon blew bubbles on the Hellhound. Fional just attacked the Hellhound, for using it's own element against the monster (which is fire right now) heals it.  
  
"BLIZZARD!!!" Liah casted a raging snowstorm that blew across the battlefield, chilling out the Hellhound. She used Monsoon once in a while, when she was running out of Magic Points.  
  
"SWORD DANCE!!!" Ryan striked the unfortunate monster with a rapid series of devestating slashes.  
  
"SAINT LITANY!!!" Aimee used that spell on everyone in the party, once on each turn. That way, everyone recieved a small amount of Hit Points after each turn.  
  
The Hellhound had a ring of fire beneath itself and shot it's coat of flame into the air, filling the battlefield with the Fire Element and scorching every charactor. On the next turn, it's fiery mane grew into fiery wings, and it started flapping them like mad. Then the beast charged across the battefield and striked everyone three times, causing big damage. Aimee used Calm Litany after that attack.  
  
After a few more rounds, the Hellhound disappeared in a puff of red smoke, just like the rest of the monsters.  
  
"Mom!" Ravin yelled running into Ruby's ablazed lair. "No!" He dropped to the red sand. "We're too late..."  
  
"Royce may have gotten my body, but my spirit lives on." said the voice of Ruby. Before everyone's eyes, a transparent Dragon form appeared on the nest of obsidian. Her fur was a crimson color, along with her feathered wings. She had large black eyes and the head of a fox. Running from her forehead all the way to her tail was a trail of spikes.  
  
"Ruby?" Joon whispered.  
  
"Yes," said the Red Dragon. "But only in spirit, not in body." She paused. "You have passed your trial; you have defeated Royce's Hellhound." Ruby did the exact same thing Nall had done and a red crest with the Red Dragon appeared and floated to Ravin.  
  
"Are you alright, Mom?" Ravin asked.  
  
"Yes, I am. But my spirit can't linger here much longer. I must find my body before it perishes. You must go to the Azura next, Ravin."  
  
"Alright," As the Red Dragon's spirit disappeared, Ravin turned to his friends. "Let's go, before it's too late." 


	3. Lunar 3Chapter 3

LUNAR 3 Twisted Realites Chapter Three: Warlords  
  
The Hispaniola was sailing very slowly, the day after Ruby's abduction, because the winds were barely blowing.  
  
"What's that?" Joon asked Ravin, pointing her blue paw at a tower that seemed to be moving from behind some small hills. Ravin watched and listened for a minute, something looked very familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. After a while it occured to him that that was no ordinary tower.  
  
"Oh, my god! Joon! That's the Neo-Grindery!" Ravin swiftly turned around towards the steering wheel of the Hispaniola, where Fional would be. Joon was hanging on to Ravin's shoulder with her claws. "Fional! Fional!!"  
  
"G'day, Ravin!" Fional greeted him, cheerily. "I 'aven't seen ya at all dis mornin'! I figured ya and Diana were goin' at it--"  
  
"Fional," Ravin was nearly out of breath. "look over...there!" Ravin pointed behind the hills where he'd seen the Neo-Grindery. "I think...that's the Neo-Grindery."  
  
"Oh...crap," Fional cursed. "We gotta get dis thin' movin'! Oh, cripes!"  
  
"Ravi, it's turning!" exclaimed Joon. "I don't know if it's going away or what..."  
  
"It's coming towards shore!" Ravin shouted.  
  
"Ravin, take da wheel! I've gotta wake dose bastards up downstairs." Fional jumped off of the deck and ran downstair after his sailors.  
  
"Okay," Ravin tripped over the stair he was standing on trying to get control of the ship. "Oof!"  
  
"C'mon, Dragon-ditz! Get up!" Joon shouted in Ravin's face. But just as soon as Ravin grabbed the wheel, there was a loud explosion that was over-heard by the Neo-Grindery's moving gears.  
  
"Eeek!!" Joon screamed flying away from the exploding ship. After a few minutes of flying out of control, Joon found out that she wasn't in the ocean and stayed hovering above the smoke from the fire that was burning the Hispaniola. "Ravin!" she called. "Diana! Fional! Liah! Aimee! Ryan!" The cat looked towards the shore, that seemed to be even farther away, and saw the tower roll in the opposite direction. She turned back to the incident and flew down to the sinking ship. She could hear men screaming from being trapped inside of locked rooms inside of the ship.  
  
"Oh, no..." Joon whispered.  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin found himself lying down on his back in blue sand. He felt sore and cold all through his body. He had a healing scar from a recent battle above his right temple and blood trickling from his wrist. He slowly brought his wrist in front of his face and blew air on the wound, making the sting feel a little better. Ravin turned his head and looked to his right and saw Diana sitting in the sand, her arms wrapped around her knees, her face buried in them. Her back was rapidly moving up and down as if she was sobbing. Joon was lying on her stomach on Diana's head of blue hair, also crying.  
  
"Don't cry." whispered Ravin to his female friends. Diana gasped and looked up, swinging Joon off of her head.  
  
"Ravin!" Diana cried, throwing her arms around his neck. "Your alive! I am so glad your alright." She kissed his cheek.  
  
"Of, course I'm alive," Ravin laughed. "I'm not that easy to get rid of."  
  
"Ravi!" Joon exclaimed, flying in his face, wrapping her arms around his head. "You big jerk! Don't you EVER scare me like that again!" She buried her face in his fore-head. "Gah! I'm so happy!"  
  
"Oh, Joon," Ravin smiled, still hanging on to Diana, "Where is everyone?"  
  
"I guess they're on the other islands." Joon said, releasing Ravin's face. "Unless they're..."  
  
"Do not think that, Joon. They will be okay." Diana looked out at the neighboring islands. "We will search for them tomorrow, when it is light out."  
  
* * *  
  
Diana woke up during the night. Only this time she wasn't awakened by a dream. The noises of the monsters in the jungle woke her up. She sat next to Ravin, who was lying down in the sand on his back, and Joon, who was curled up in a tiny blue ball. Diana wouldn't have been able to see Joon, if it wasn't for her white markings around her legs. Diana looked at Ravin. His eyes were opened and he was smiling.  
  
"Oh, you are awake?" Diana asked him.  
  
"Yep. I've been awake." he answered. He sat up and went right back to gazing up at the stars.  
  
"It's awfully dark without the Blue Star." Diana shivered.  
  
"I know, but at least we got other stars." Ravin looked at Diana. "What woke you up?"  
  
"Oh, it is nothing," she said, as Ravin scooted closer to her. "What do you see in these stars, Ravin?"  
  
"I see...pictures." he pointed his finger at one twinkling star. "See that one? If you look at the star right underneath it and bring it up and around like that and include the three larger stars in the middle, you can see Joon's head."  
  
"Hey, I see it." Diana breathed. "Hmm...those group of stars right there next to Joon's head looks like two people standing back to back and if you look down it looks like they are holding hands."  
  
"I see that one's shorter than the other," he smiled.  
  
"Yes," Diana looked down at her hands and smiled to herself. She kind of laughed.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"Nothing at all, really." she blushed. "It is just that I have never been so close to anyone like this before. It...makes me happy. I am glad we are going on this journey together, Ravin. I have met many good friends."  
  
"I don't know what to say, Diana." Ravin said, sheepishly scratching his head.  
  
"That is alright." she said, as Ravin scooted even closer to her. A roar from a monster made both of them jump and look behind themselves. They both sighed and stopped to look at each other when turning around, they were nose to nose. They looked down and bumped foreheads.  
  
"Oof!" Ravin said looking down, noticing his hand was on Diana's. "I'm Sorry..." he apologized, moving his hand from hers, back onto the sand.  
  
"It is okay." Diana whispered, taking his hands back and squeezing them.  
  
"Y-Your hands are very soft." Ravin whispered, blushing. "You must use lotion or something." Diana simpered and rested her head on his shoulder. Ravin lied his head gently on hers. After a while Ravin spoke. "We should get some sleep, Diana. We have--" He noticed that she was already asleep. He whispered, "Good night."  
  
* * *  
  
Joon stretched, similar to how a regular cat stretches. "Meooowwwww!" she yawned, wiping tears from her eyes. "Morning, you two." Joon grinned, getting face to face with Ravin and Diana, who were still sleeping sitting up next to each other. "Wake up!"  
  
"Aah," Ravin groaned. "Joon, you stupid cat. What did you do that for?"  
  
"Oh, no reason." Joon said innocently. "Morning, Diana...!"  
  
"Good morning." Diana put her hand over her mouth and yawned. She looked at Ravin, for she wanted to talk to him. "Ahem," He faced her and Diana signaled to get rid of Joon. He nodded.  
  
"Look, Joon! A fish! Go catch it!" Ravin lied, pointing in a direction.  
  
"Boom! Chicka, chicka! Ooooh, YEAH!!" Joon flew as fast as she could into the water to find the fish Ravin was talking about. When Joon was out of sight, Diana spoke.  
  
"Ravin, thank you for...letting me sleep on your shoulder." she fiddled with her fingers. "I was not planning on doing that."  
  
"No, don't worry about it." Ravin said, standing up. He reached out his hand to help Diana stand. "I didn't mind it."  
  
"Ravi!" Joon called from the water. "There was NO fish!" Ravin and Diana laughed.  
  
"We should go find Azura before Royce does." Ravin suggusted.  
  
"Yes," Diana agreed.  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin, Diana, and Joon ran into a few monsters in the jungle while on their way to Azura's cave. The cave was more like a shrine or a fountain with the huge waterfall. At the waterfall, where Joon said was the center of the island and where her mom would be, there was a light blue, half horse, half fish monster sitting in the middle of the small lake. It's front half was the horse, whose mane was a fin, and it's back half was a large, finned fluke.  
  
"That looks alot like the one monster that almost seemed invincible that we kept on battling in the jungle, only...bigger." said Ravin. "What were those called? Hippocampus?"  
  
"Or something like that." whispered Joon. The Hippocampus stood on it's tail and reared up, pawing at the air. It's whinny sounded much like a zebra's. When it landed, it launched its first attack. The water surrounding it rushed towards Ravin, Diana, and Joon, the white water swiftly formed into the shape of stampeding horses.  
  
"Ahh!" Everyone got flung backwards, nearly downing in the magic rapids.  
  
"Ugh! RED DRAGON ANGER!!!" Ravin summoned the power of the Red Dragon. He could hear the shrill roar of the Red Dragon, as a rain of fireballs poured upon the battlefield, harming, the Hippocampus, but not the jungle. "Whoa...!" he breathed.  
  
"Thank goodness that it did not catch the Blue Dragon Jungle searing." Diana sighed, casting her Stepping Thunder spell. The Hippocampus slapped its tail in the lake and sprayed needles of water into Ravin's chest, causing extreme damage. Joon used an Herb on him and it helped a little. Ravin, thereafter, used Pyro Spheres and Flame Bomb, until the Hippocampus disappeared. And Diana used her thunder spell.  
  
"Mom'll be right inside here." Joon smiled, flying straight through the falls. Ravin and Diana sighed and walked towards each other and looked each other over for wounds.  
  
"You okay?" Ravin asked, putting his forehead to Diana's. She shook her head and sighed with relief, lovingly rubbing his arm.  
  
"Yes, I am," she whispered.  
  
"Hey!" Joon called. "Let's get going! Mom won't wait!" Ravin held on to Diana's hand as they walked inside of Azura's Cave. It was still misty inside of the Lair and Ravin could barely see where he was going. All he could see was that the Lair was bigger than he expected.  
  
"This way, Dragon-ditz." Joon flew ahead. Ravin followed the cat along a slippery rocky path. After walking straight in darkness for ten minutes, they finally made it to the center of the Lair, where it was a bit brighter. The actual Lair looked alot like the bottom of a well, with its walls trickling with water. There were two large boulders, on both sides of the nest, that had water pouring from them. And the nest also had water pouring from it and that's where Azura, the Blue Dragon, was. She was a darker blue than Joon was. She had bat-like wings, with the skin starting out a sea-green, but then gradually colored into yellow, then magenta. She had dark gold horns that rose upwards from behind her finned ears.  
  
"Hiya, Mom!" Joon squeaked.  
  
"Hello, Joon." Azura said in a gentle voice. "Great to see you again, Ravin. I see you are in person now."  
  
"Yep." he smiled.  
  
"My little Ravi's growin' up!" Joon sniffed. "I'm so proud of him, being able to morph into a human form like that. I think I'm getting all misty-eyed on you." Ravin laughed.  
  
"So, what's our Trial, Azura?" he asked.  
  
"You have to find the Blue Dragon Crest." said the Dragon. "It's in this cave."  
  
"Okay. C'mon, Joon." Ravin called her. As he walked back to the entrance of the cave, he looked above the exit and saw the Crest, neatly up against the wall. He let go of Diana's hand and morphed into a winged-cat form, and flew up to the Crest. "Hey, Diana!" Ravin called to her in a high- pitched voice. "Catch!" He flipped it over the edge and she caught it. Ravin flew down from the edge and morphed back into a human. The Blue Dragon Crest shined just like the other two when held in his hands. Just then, the bellow of Azura jolted the cave.  
  
"Mom?!" Joon exclaimed, flying swiftly towards her mother's Lair. The Blue Dragon wasn't there. Only a blonde, long haired woman, wearing a revealing dress, and tattoos all over her body. She, like Royce, had red eyes and bright blue pupils.  
  
"Ravin!" exclaimed Joon. "Cover your eyes and no peeking! She's practically naked! You're not supposed to be exposed to this!"  
  
"Listen to your cat, handsome." said the woman, to Ravin, giving him a sexy look. Diana and Joon sneered.  
  
"I'm NOT a cat, toe-head!" Joon yelled. "And where's my Mom?!"  
  
"Right here." the woman opened her left hand and held out a blue star the size of a marble.  
  
"Who are you?" Diana asked. "Are you--?"  
  
"Yes, I am Xenobia," replied the blonde. "A descendant of the forgotten Vile Tribe. The innocence Althena pushed out beyond the wastelands of the Frontier."  
  
"I think I've heard something like that from somewhere..." Joon muttered.  
  
"And who's your man, here, Diana?"  
  
"That's none of your business!" Joon shouted, sticking her nose in the air. "Ravin's already taken, by Diana. They had their first fight and everything!"  
  
"It wasn't exactly a fight, Joon, it was a misunderstanding." Ravin pointed out.  
  
"Why do you want him, anyway?" Joon made a disgusted face at Xenobia. "For cripes' sake, he has white hair!" Ravin glared at Joon.  
  
"I still have not forgiven Ghaleon for using me like a tool a thousand years ago." Xenobia whispered, her eyes seeming a little distant. "I was a fool for thinking that he actually loved me. NOW, he..."  
  
"Say what?" Joon asked, dully. "That's not what I asked, toe-head." Xenobia shook her head. "Now I have the Black, Blue, and Red Dragons, and all that's left is that little pest Nall, you can do nothing to stop me, Diana. The Death Wraith has created the strongest team to help him destroy your world."  
  
"Wait!" Joon yelled, as Xenobia disappeared with the blue aura that held her mother. "W-What about Mom?" she whimpered.  
  
"Don't worry, Joon. Azura'll be fine." said Ravin. "We can stop them, before they reach my Dad."  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin morphed into his White Dragon form and flew to the island closest to the shipwreck, which was a mile or so from the Blue Dragon Island.  
  
"Do you see them, yet, Ravin?" Diana asked, clenching tighter to his fur.  
  
"Uh..." Ravin looked closer to the island he was flying over. "There's smoke over there. I'm gonna check it out." He glided towards the smoke and when he landed, he transformed back into a human. "Hello?" he called. "Is anyone here?"  
  
"Ravin?" It was the voice of Fional. "Heh. What are da odds o' findin' ya 'ere?"  
  
"At least your okay." smiled Ravin. "Pack your things, we have to find the others."  
  
"Okey, dokey!" Fional poured some of his bottled water over his small fire, grabbed his nap sack, and his bow and arrows, and followed Ravin, Diana, and Joon to the beach. Before Ravin morphed back into a Dragon, he turned to Fional, and gave him the White Dragon Crest.  
  
"Wha...?" Fional breathed. "I dought dat was yers?"  
  
"The White Dragon Protect is in my blood." said Ravin. "This'll help you protect Schorr, when I get you out of this mess."  
  
"Much obliged." said the Beastman, taking the crest.  
  
The Dragon flew over another neighboring island and found Ryan, Liah, and Aimee there. They were also fine and dandy. When Ravin met up with them, he gave Aimee the Blue Dragon Crest.  
  
"Why are you giving this to me?" she asked, slowly taking it out of Ravin's hands. "Aren't you supposed to have these?"  
  
"I think you should have it." Ravin smirked. "It'll grant you the Blue Dragon Healing. And it might help you, since your a Healer and all."  
  
"Wow," she breathed. "Do you think this'll help me heal everyone in Zulan? And cure the illness?"  
  
"Maybe." said Liah, smiling.  
  
"And this is for you." Ravin handed Ryan the Red Dragon Crest.  
  
"Ravin...I-I don't want this." Ryan gave it back.  
  
"You don't have to WANT it, Ryan." Ravin told him. "You might NEED it...later."  
  
"I'll hold on to it," Ryan said, putting the crest inside of his nap sack. "But I STILL don't want it."  
  
* * *  
  
Since there was no other option for transportation, Ravin decided to take a risk and fly over the Katerina Continent in Dragon form.  
  
"This is bad. Very, VERY bad, Ravin." said Joon, nervously. "What if those guys see you flying all over the place?"  
  
"They won't. They're human, they don't know squat." Ravin smirked. "No offense, you four."  
  
"None taken." Fional, Liah, Aimee, and Ryan all said simutaneously.  
  
"Where are we going next, Ravi?" Joon asked. "Nero's?" She swooned and sighed.  
  
"Yep." Ravin replied. Joon swooned and sighed again. "Hey, if you don't stop that, Joon, I'll make sure Nero hears what you think of him, then get you embarrassed."  
  
"He already knows." Joon told Ravin, quickly and nervously.  
  
"Yeah. Sure. Okay. Fine. Whatever." Ravin scanned the area he was flying over, noticed that he was over the Starlight Forest, and cleared his throat. "We are here. See that tower? That is the Star Dragon Tower. The Star Dragon himself doesn't exist anymore for he was defeated by Hiro." Ravin saw Diana grin at the memory of her father. He went back to talking.  
  
"Nero's Cave is those woods down there." And Ravin started to land. Once landed, he morphed back into a human and they all carried on in the Starlight Forest. Monsters were scattered everywhere, out of Goblins to Hummingbyrds. They came across a black stone cave with lit torches leading down.  
  
This place was also littered with monsters, but nothing they couldn't handle. When they came to the entrance to Nero's Lair, they noticed that there wasn't a huge boss monster waiting for them.  
  
"Well, that's a relief." Ravin smirked, leading everyone into Nero's Lair. The Lair didn't look very different from the rest of the cave, besides the bottomless pit. The nest was a few 10 feet away from the ledge that Ravin and the others were standing on.  
  
" 'Ow are we gonna get o'er dere?" Fional asked.  
  
"I don't know," Ravin whispered stepping forward. When he went as far as he could go, it started to move. "Whoa! Hey, everyone, jump over here!" And they did, and the piece of rock was floating slowly to the Black Dragon's nest. In the nest, there was a black cat with wings, like Joon.  
  
"YOUR the Black Dragon?!" Ryan exclaimed.  
  
"Yes, you dipstick!" the black cat cried. "Well, I will be in a second." And the cat started to morph into the Black Dragon. He had long, bony horns that spiraled outward at the top. He had long slender ears with a couple strings of fur popping out at the tips. He had long shaggy wirehair, except for over his long face. His wings blended from black, to green, to a creamy color. And on the tip of his tail it looked like wheat seeds.  
  
"Hey, Nero." greeted Joon, dreamily.  
  
"Hey, Joon." said Nero, smiling. "What are you doing here, Ravin?"  
  
"We need to pass your Trial to get the Black Dragon Crest." said Ravin.  
  
"Oh! I still need more time to think about it!" Nero complained. "Ah! Umm... Find the...Black Dragon Amulet and then I'll give you it."  
  
"Let's go." Ravin and the others walked back onto the ledge and it moved back to where it was. They all looked everywhere in the black cave, for a half hour at least, until they came to a silver chest. Ravin opened it and found a black, green, and gold beaded necklace, with a Dragon bead, that looked alot like the Black Dragon's head.  
  
"This was the Plains Tribe magic amulet." Ravin breathed. "That Tribe died out hundreds of years ago. They worshiped the Black Earth Dragon for all that they had: the trees, the flowers, the animals, the mountains, and life."  
  
"I can't believe Nero has it from the last Black Dragon." said Joon.  
  
They went back to Nero's Lair and gave him the amulet.  
  
"I almost forgot about this thing." said Nero. "And here's your Dragon Crest." The Black Dragon Crest appeared, just like the others, and it floated to Ravin. He handed it to Liah.  
  
"Here." Ravin said. "You should...have it, Liah. It might help you out with Lady Miaka Ausa and you could use it for the Magic Guild."  
  
"T...Thank you, Ravin." said Liah. "I don't know why your giving everyone your well-deserved crests."  
  
"Well, I can't have Black or Blue Dragon magic, since I'm half White Dragon and half Red Dragon." Ravin smirked. "And since I am, I have the White Dragon Protect and the Red Dragon Anger. Besides, I wanted to help you guys out."  
  
"We appreiciate it, Ravin." said Fional. Liah, Aimee, and Ryan all agreed in their own speeches. Diana clenched her Pendant tightly and remembered how her father met her mother, and Ronfar, Jean, Lemina, and Leo.  
  
"We should get going." Diana smiled to her friends.  
  
"Awe! Leaving so soon, Diana?" said a sinister voice, that sounded like three others were speaking along with it. Nero stood in a crouch now and slowly looked up the wall in his Lair, growling at the voice.  
  
"No!" Nero whispered. "I can't, anymore! I'll die because of it!"  
  
"D...Die b-b-because of w-what?" Joon asked, stammering. "What's going on?"  
  
"It is the Death Wraith." Diana whispered.  
  
"Nero, you will listen to me! I own you now!" the Wraith howled. Nero started to roar in pain. He fell to the ground, shaking the cave, and making some rocks fall.  
  
"Rrrrraaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!" Nero roared triumphantly, standing. Instead of gold, his eyes were red with a blue pupil, like Royce's and Xenobia's.  
  
"Nero..." Joon whimpered. "What's wrong with you?" Nero started to glow purple and after a few minutes the violet aura shot around the room and into the cave, where a hissing monster awaited.  
  
"Now, Nero, you will go find Nall, the White Dragon, and capture him."  
  
"Grrr...!" Nero replied, flying out of his Lair.  
  
"Nero!" Ravin yelled, as the top of the cave closed. He shrugged. "We have no choice but to go out that way."  
  
"Can'tcha use da White Dragon Wings?" Fional asked. "I mean, dat's what dose are for!"  
  
"I can't use them now!" Ravin exclaimed. "Evil still lingers here."  
  
"Sheesh!" Fional growled. "I 'ate monsters."  
  
The monster looked like a giant black praying mantis and its claws were glowing purple. The aura shot from its claws and wrapped around Diana's waist, like a corset, nearly crushing her ribs.  
  
"Ahh!" she screamed, the corset was still wrapped around her. "It will not come off!" she yelled.  
  
"That's it!" Ravin growled at the Mantis. "You're gonna get it! FLAMING ICE!!!" The battlefield was then showered with cold fire, barely damaging the Mantis at all. "Wha...?" Ravin made a confused face.  
  
"It's immune to magic, Ravin!" Liah called to him. "Attack it next time." Liah couldn't use her magic either, she decided to not waste her Magic Points, so she just used her wand's magic on the monster and used Items, when neccessary.  
  
"FLASH ARROW!!!" Fional shot an arrow at the Mantis, damaging it more than the magic did. He used that on every turn.  
  
"POWER SLASH!!!" Ryan dished out one massive hack to the monster, damaging it alot. He used that on every turn. During the battle, Diana was freed from the magic corset and used Napalm Shot on the Mantis. The monster kept on using dark magic, taking away MP, but mostly capturing group members in a corset, wrapping them in a sticky string, like beef in a burrito(heh) or wacking them in the head with metal sickles.  
  
"FLASH BLADE!!!" Ryan swung his sword in a stunning series of sword- strikes against the Mantis, and the monster disappeared. "Quick! Let's get outta here!"  
  
* * *  
  
"Everyone, stay here by the Star Dragon Tower!" Ravin ordered his friends. "I'll be back! I've just gotta follow Nero and see where he's going." He turned to Diana. "Diana, can you keep Joon from following me?" She nodded. Ravin transformed into a Dragon and flew at breakneck speed to where he figured Nero was heading. I CAN'T let Nero reach my dad! Ravin thought. Something weird keeps happening to me everyday, now. But since I'm a Dragon, I never lived a normal human life before.  
  
By nightfall, Ravin found Nero. He and Nall were having a scrimage and the White Dragon seemed to be losing.  
  
"Dad!" Ravin called.  
  
"Ravin?" Nall looked at his son. "Ravin, get out of here! Nero's--" Before Nall could finish what he was saying, Nero fired a blast of purple energy at him, consealing him inside a small crystal. The Black Dragon's mouth was curved into a sinister smile, bearing his teeth. Then the white crystal Nall was in, shrunk to the size of a marble, and it shot up into the sky.  
  
"Unh!" Ravin's mouth dropped open. He turned to Nero with a sneer.  
  
"Come and get me, Ravin." Nero taunted.  
  
"Oh, you scum!" Ravin swiftly flew towards the fleeing Nero. "Come here and face me, coward!" He fired a stream of ice at his foe, but Nero dodged it by a long shot. The Black Dragon posthasted behind Ravin and grazed Ravin's shoulder blade with his claws. Nero did the exact same move again, only that time, Ravin evaded it and pounded Nero in the stomach with his tail. Then he charged at Nero, head first, but Nero grabbed one of his wings in his jaws and swung Ravin away. His wing was losing a few feathers, at first after that attack. Ravin expeled fire from his mouth, singing Nero's wing a bit.  
  
"Rrr!" Nero growled, lunging at Ravin. Nero got Ravin in a head-lock, sped down to the earth, and slammed him into the ground.  
  
"Raa--" Nero bit down on Ravin's neck. "Rrroooaaahh!" Ravin spit fire in Nero's face, making him let go, giving Ravin some time to move. Both Dragons fired ice at each other. Nero side-stepped and stopped firing, sending a trail of ice into the trees behind him. The Black Dragon's neck started to crackle with electricity.  
  
"Huh?" Ravin had no idea what Nero was going to do next, so he stood crouched to the ground, getting ready to jump. Nero extended his wings and the battlefield and everything on it was struck by lightning, even Ravin. As Nero flew away, Ravin collasped.  
  
* * *  
  
"Now, this is pitiful."  
  
Ravin's eyes snapped open. He was human now, with all of his drained power from the battle with Nero. He looked up to see a familiar shadowy figure looking down upon him. Ravin squinted his eyes to see who he was. The man had pale skin and was wearing a long black cloak.  
  
"I...I've seen you once before." Ravin groaned, sitting up. "What do you want?"  
  
"So, you are the son of Nall and Ruby, eh?" the man snickered. "You can't even defeat a younger Dragon. You really have alot to learn, boy."  
  
"State your name." Ravin said, standing.  
  
"My name is..." the man hesitated. "Laike."  
  
"Laike? Hm," Ravin raised an eyebrow. "Then, why are you following me, Laike?"  
  
"I haven't been following you, Ravin." Laike said. "I was kind of sent to help you."  
  
"Sent? What do you mean?"  
  
"That I cannot say." Laike lowered his voice. "It's best not spoken. There are things more important than where I came from. Such as all of the small villages the Neo-Grindery has been blowing up. But there are even greater problems than that. I've come to help you train a little along the way to defeating that Death Wraith. That thing can't be beaten, as long as a part of Zophar still remains."  
  
"A part of Zophar? Like what?"  
  
"His ashes." Laike whispered. Ravin was shocked. What if the word had gotten to Diana and Lucia. That would give them even more to worry about.  
  
"This isn't good."  
  
"No, it's not." said Laike. "That's why I am here to help you. I will explain everything to you and your friends when we find them."  
  
Ravin flew Laike back to the Star Dragon Tower, where the others were waiting.  
  
"Who's this?" Joon asked Ravin.  
  
"This is Laike," said Ravin. "He is here to help us."  
  
"I bet you all don't know why you are doing here." Laike said to them. "You probably just wanted to tag along for someone was going somewhere you were going. But you are here for something bigger, though. Fional, Liah, Aimee, and Ryan, you four got involved for a reason. Each of you has a destiny that sets you all apart, however, you are all traveling on the same trail, going for the same goal: to defeat Zophar. I can help you achieve that goal."  
  
"How?" asked Liah.  
  
"Each of you will attack me," Laike spred his legs apart. "Now show me what you got." They still looked confused.  
  
"One at a time, each of you will fire your magical ability at me." Laike told them. They still were confused. "Sigh. It will not harm me. I am stronger than all of you put together. You," He pointed at Fional. "Attack me."  
  
"Alright," Fional loaded his arrows and aimed one at Laike. The arrow started to catch on fire as Fional summoned a spell. "FLASH ARROW!!!"  
  
The arrow didn't harm Laike, but he could still sense the power of the assult.  
  
"I guess that's not TOO bad." Laike shrugged. "You can get better, still." He pointed at Liah.  
  
"You should be surprised about what a Mage can do!" Liah smiled, summoning her Thunder Thrust spell. "Ha! How's that?"  
  
"Good," Laike called on everybody else. They all did as they were told. Ryan didn't need much assistance since he was already handy with the sword; Aimee already knew how to handle Healing spells; and Diana and Ravin were already good with magic. So far, only Fional needed to get better at his magic, and Ravin need to be of more use with weapons. Ravin used the Long Dagger from now on.  
  
" 'Ow can dis help us defeat Zophar?" Fional asked Laike. Laike explained to them about the power of humanity and how it can defeat Zophar, by just combining strength. Diana and Ravin seemed to have understood it, but the rest of the group was still unsure.  
  
"With me, a Sage, to help you," said Laike. "You can become almost invincable."  
  
"Sa-weet!" Fional grinned.  
  
* * *  
  
"So," said Royce, looking into her crystal ball, upon a sleeping Laike. "He man-aged to get them to trust him." (She couldn't hear what they were saying through the ball, but that she seemed to understand)  
  
"I guess we CAN trust that man into helping us." said Xenobia. "However, I will never forgive him for playing with me."  
  
"What are you going to do about it?"  
  
"I'm just going to play around with Ravin," Xenobia grinned. "Making 'Laike' jealous, then maybe I can get some fun around here."  
  
"How are you going to get Ravin?" asked Royce. "He's in love with Lucia's daughter."  
  
"Then I'll just have to get rid of her." Xenobia looked at Royce's crystal ball. "I'll get inside of his mind."  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin started to toss and turn in his sleep. He groaned as his shaking hand reached for his Dagger, that was in it's sheathe.  
  
"Get up, Ravin." echoed Xenobia's voice inside of Ravin's thoughts. "Pierce the heart of the Princess of the Blue Star." Ravin's eyes snapped open, they were the color of Nero's eyes when he was under the same spell; they started to glow. He stood up, clench-ing the dagger in his right hand, blade down. He started to silently walk over to where Diana was sleeping. She rolled over onto her back and moaned for she was starting to wake up. She sleepily scratched her head and yawned, opening her eyes. Diana shaded her eyes with her arm, from the red light that was beaming down upon her.  
  
"Huh...?" Diana looked up in the red and blue glowing eyes of an obscure sil-houette of a young man holding a dagger standing over her. He raised the dagger to strike her. "Ahh--!" Diana swung her hands in front of her face and shot a tiny bolt of lightning at him.  
  
"Aaahhhhh!!" screamed Xenobia's voice. "Too...powerful!" And she left Ravin's mind. A woman-looking puff of purple smoke poured out of Ravin's eyes, draining the red and blue color from them.  
  
"Gah...!" Ravin put his hand on his forehead and fell to his knees. Diana stared at the smoke that was floating out of the campsite.  
  
"Hm," Then Diana looked at the kneeling man. "Gasp! R-Ravin?" He didn't answer; he just growled through his gritted teeth, trying to bear a pain of somekind in his head. "What were you--?" Ravin, looked at his right hand. He gasped quietly, and surprizingly, and looked up at Diana. She looked into his eyes, which were framed with red; his pupils were outlined with light blue.  
  
"What happened...?" Ravin asked.  
  
"Sigh...you were under a spell." Diana replied.  
  
"Am I going to be alright?"  
  
"I hope so,"  
  
* * *  
  
The next day.  
  
Ravin couldn't stop thinking about the incident last night. He didn't even know he was under a spell. He thought he was still asleep. Diana was also puzzled. She thought that she had sensed an evil aura in the smoke that exited Ravin's eyes, but she couldn't tell from whom.  
  
"What's wrong, Ravi?" Joon asked, sitting on his shoulder. "Are you sick?"  
  
"Yeah, your eyes look so distant," said Aimee.  
  
"It's nothing," he responded. "I'm just thinking."  
  
"Okay," Joon lied down on his shoulder, neatly curling her tail around her legs.  
  
"I'm going to leave for a while," said Laike. "I've business to attend to."  
  
"Where ya goin'?" Fional asked the Sage. Laike had already disappeared into thin air. "Huh. Dat was rude."  
  
"Let's just get going." said Ravin.  
  
"Where to?" snapped Liah, who was standing awfully close to Ryan. "Do we just go around the world and back until we find some vile god's reeking pile of cremation?"  
  
"If that's what it takes to save Lunar." Ravin retorted. He turned to Diana. "Where was Zophar defeated? Maybe that's where his ashes'll be."  
  
"The Minea Sea," Diana replied. "We will go there, next."  
  
* * *  
  
It took them all day to egress the Salyan Desert. By evening, they had to stop and rest at an old water ruin for the night.  
  
"The Water Ruins?" Ravin exclaimed.  
  
"They have to be!" Diana breathed. "This is how my Father described them. I didn't know they were on Lunar; I thought they were on the Blue Star!" She turned to her friends. "He said that he had to find the Sapphire Eye of the Dragon in order to open the gates to the Star Dragon Tower. He said that something else happened here that involved my Mother, but he never told me what."  
  
"I've got an idea!" Liah exclaimed. She ran over to the water and stroked the surface with her palm. She sighed. "Why don't we go for a swim?"  
  
"What for?" Aimee asked.  
  
"It'll be fun! For once we can think about something else than Zo- fart."  
  
"That'll be nice." Ravin sighed. "I think it's a great idea. After we swim, we can build a fire and warm up."  
  
"Oh, yeah, sure," mocked Joon. "What are you gonna do, skinny-dip?"  
  
"I agree with Joon." said Ravin. "We don't have any swim suits."  
  
"What's the matter, Ravin?" asked Ryan. "Afraid we'll laugh at your...equipment?"  
  
"No," Ravin said, defensively. "It's becau--"  
  
"Of course not!" Liah laughed at Joon. "I've got a couple of my bathing suits in my nap sack." She pulled out four pairs of bathing suits. One was a one-piece that had cute little bows holding the sides together, leaving openings in between each one. Another was a blue bikini with lemons on it. The third one was also a bikini, but the bottom half was shorts; it had blue, turquoise, and lime-green stripes. And the fourth one was like the third one, only the bottom wasn't shorts and the top had short sleeves, and it had bright red and silver marks.  
  
"Since when did you bring bathing suits?" Aimee asked. "Isn't that a bit...unusual?"  
  
"I only meant to bring one, but I couldn't decide." Liah objected. "I pick the one with the lemons." She exclaimed, greedily snatching it from the small pile.  
  
"Then, I'll get the one-piece with the cute little bows." Aimee said.  
  
"Pick one or the other, Diana!" Joon exclaimed.  
  
"Both are very nice, however, I cannot decide." Diana said slightly blushing.  
  
"Then I'LL pick!" Joon spun around in a circle and dizzily picked the red and silver striped bikini. "Here ya go!" Joon gave it to Diana.  
  
"Now what about the guys?" Aimee asked Liah.  
  
"Guess they'll have to go in boxers!" the red-head giggled.  
  
After everyone got changed, they quickly jumped into the frore water. Even though it was cold, they eventually got used to it's temperature and learned to enjoy it.  
  
Fional was standing on a pillar sticking out of the water, in his shorts. He was holding a struggling Joon in his right hand. Joon was biting his thumb, but Fional didn't even wince. The Beastman howled with joy and jumped into the water, dragging Joon under with him. The cat jumped out of the water, gasping for air. When Fional came up to the surface, laughing, Joon started to chase after him.  
  
Liah was swimming with Aimee and she constantly talked about how hot Ryan looked without a shirt, making Aimee a little annoyed at how her best friend wouldn't talk about anything else.  
  
Ryan kept on trying to do hold his breath underwater for over two minutes and spend that time gazing at Liah's legs without her knowing.  
  
Diana would just swim by herself, gawking at the blue and purple sky.  
  
Ravin would torture Joon along with Fional. But every once in a while, he'd glance over at Diana swimming alone.  
  
He wanted to keep her company, so he went beneath the surface and swam away from Fional and Joon's area without them getting any ideas about him, to where Diana was swimming. Ravin grinned to himself while swimming under the water. He popped his head out next to Diana's head. She looked up at him; he looked down upon her. They both smiled. Ravin leaned down to kiss Diana. She seemed to get the idea of what he wanted, so she puckered her lips, a little, and closed her eyes. She thought that she was going to feel the soft pressure of lips on her own, but she felt firm hands on her back. Ravin put both of his hands under her back, picked her up in the air, and tossed her back in the water. Diana shrieked as she landed. She came up out of the water, and soon smiled at Ravin. He smirked back.  
  
"That...was fun." Diana giggled, plopping backwards.  
  
"That was the idea," Ravin sank down until only his head and shoulders were sticking out of the surface. "I wish it would stay like this forever."  
  
"So do I." Diana said. She swam over to the arching rock that was behind Ravin and she sat down on a rock that was buried in the mud beneath the water. "It really has been amazing, so far, with you, Ravin." He swam closer to her, wanting to talk more about what they want on this journey. "And...I do not mean to embarrass you, but...I've noticed that you have done everything you could to take care of me."  
  
"I don't want to see you get hurt." Ravin was now nose to nose with Diana. "I would never, ever hurt you."  
  
"And I, you," Diana closed her eyes to kiss Ravin. No, Diana! Stop! said a voice in her head. She opened her eyes and quietly gasped. "I...I am sorry," Diana whispered. She looked back and saw the others out of the water, getting the fire ready. "Let us go." She grabbed Ravin's hand from underwater and pulled him along with her. They all sat around the fire trying to dry off. Each of them would tell hilarious stories of themselves when they were kids.  
  
"An' me Pop put 'is fingers 'round me nose an' gently pulled an' made a fist like dis," Fional made a fist and put his thumb in between his middle and index fingers. "An' he said, 'I gotcha nose!' an' den 'e acted like 'e put me nose in 'is mouth. I started ta cry about me nose an' yelled, 'Gimme back me nose!' An' Pops would tell me ta ask politly, an' I would." Fional laughed along with everyone else. "Ah, I was a stupid lil' kid den, eh?" They all agreed with him. Then Liah started telling them a story when she was a child. Afterwards, everyone got back in their regular clothes, and went to sleep.  
  
The next morning.  
  
Thirty minutes after the party woke up, they reached the Minea Sea. It was much bigger now, then it was one hundred years ago. A couple of years previously, the sea swallowed up Azado along with it's peninsula.  
  
Ravin scavenged around over the Minea Sea, looking for something out of place. Eventually, he saw a two towers sticking up out of the water.  
  
"What's that?" he asked.  
  
"Let's go check it out." Ryan suggested. The white Dragon flew down to the castle.  
  
"Where can I land?" Ravin asked himself aloud, looking at the second tower that was much taller than the other one.  
  
"There!" Joon pointed at a ledge on the lower tower, where Ravin soon landed. He morphed into a human form.  
  
"There's something evil in there," Ravin said to the others as he looked at the huge, locked, iron doors.  
  
"How will we get in?" Aimee asked.  
  
"Like this," Ravin wrapped his hands around the lock on the entryway. His hands started to catch on fire; they melted the iron lock. He kicked it off and opened the entrance. They all started to walk inside of the villa. They've encountered strong monsters while going deeper into the chateau, such as Steel Soldiers, Bomb Angels, Bronze Creeps, and Dark Eyes.  
  
After one story, they reached the second one down. The floors were glass. Ravin looked beneath the glass and saw a familiar white claw, that was in chains. He looked forward and seen the Dragon head of Nall.  
  
"Dad!" Ravin exclaimed, running over to the White Dragon. Nall's mouth was full of tubes going in and out of his lips. His eyes were closed and had cycles under them; they opened a minute later.  
  
"Ravin...?" Nall said, weakly.  
  
"W-What's wrong? What's happening?" Ravin asked his father.  
  
"The Neo-Grindery is...sucking the life out of me..." Nall whispered. "And also the others."  
  
"Wha...?!" Ravin shook his head. "Even Nero?" Nall nodded a bit. "What of the Death Wraith and the Sorceress's?"  
  
"The Wraith...is using our power to make the reviving Zophar much...stronger than before." Nall closed his eyes. "Soon...he will come."  
  
"Let's get moving." Ravin said, stomping forward.  
  
* * *  
  
"They are coming!" yelled the Death Wraith to Xenobia, Royce, Taben, and a young sixteen year old boy with raven-black hair and eyes. He turned to the boy. "Take care of the rest of the Dragons."  
  
"Yes, Master," he bowed and walked off.  
  
"Taben,"  
  
"M'Lord?" Taben raised his head.  
  
"Raise the Neo-Grindery." the Wraith told him. "Zophar's revival is very soon."  
  
* * *  
  
The room started to shake. Everybody fell over onto the floor, even the monsters they were up against.  
  
"W-W-Wha-a-a-at's h-h-ha-ap-p-pening?" Joon stuttered, rolling on the floor.  
  
"I-I don't know," Fional growled, gripping his hands into the floor.  
  
The rumbling stopped.  
  
"What was THAT?" Ryan exclaimed, holding onto Liah.  
  
Ravin frowned. "I think it--"  
  
"RRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"  
  
"Wha...?" Joon flew into the air. "That sounded like Mom!" She started to fly to where she'd heard the roar. Everyone followed her. In the next room, Joon was flying in the air, her mouth wide open. She had witnessed her mother being destroyed. "Mom...?" Now all that she seen was a dark-haired boy, surrounded by a shattered blue crystal.  
  
"Who are you, kid?" Ravin exclaimed.  
  
"You should know who I am, Ravin." the boy said, lowering his head. Ravin thought about it for a while. The boy's aura was awfully familiar. Then it hit him.  
  
"Nero?!" Ravin yelled.  
  
"Nero??!" Joon gasped, after him. Nero nodded. "Why have you killed my Mom?!"  
  
"I was simply following orders." he replied. Joon frowned, almost about to cry.  
  
"Joon," Diana whispered. "It is not really Nero; he is under a spell." Nero disappeared.  
  
"No!" Ravin howled. "Where'd he go?" There was another ear-piercing roar. "Dad!" He ran to the room he was in last. Nall was gone, only shattered white crystal was lying on the floor. "He's going for Mom, next!" He ran until he entered the room where his mother was. She was still there and Nero was standing in front of her, his arm extended. Ravin tackled Nero and punched his jaw. The boy shook his head.  
  
"Huh...?" Nero looked around, his eyes were now a dark green. "Where am--? Ravin, what are you doing on me?" He got off. Nero stood up. "No...It happened, didn't it?"  
  
"What? You got casted under this spell more than once?" Ravin asked.  
  
"Yes...but me finding out was an accident." Nero's face grew more serious. "You have to do something, Ravin."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"You have to kill Zophar and the others." Nero explained. "If you don't, this'll happen again and it'll mean death for us all."  
  
"Don't worry, Nero, we will." Ravin looked at his friends and nodded at them. They started to follow him, even though he wasn't expecting them to.  
  
"Wait, Ravin!" said an exhausted Ruby from behind. "I would...like to tell you something. Now that Nall is gone...you are the White Dragon." Ravin looked at Ruby, who's dark eyes were welling with tears.  
  
"Me...?"  
  
"Yes. It is your duty, now, to protect Lunar."  
  
"I won't fail Lunar, Mom."  
  
"It's time." whispered Royce and Taben.  
  
"Now we wait for Ravin others to come." said Xenobia.  
  
Ravin and the others finally reached the tallest tower of the Neo- Grindery. They had to go all of the way to the bottom of the Neo-Grindery and up again in order to get to it. Royce, Xenobia, and Taben were there, and were staring at them. Behind them was a large, chunky, black, four- headed monster. Coming out of the spiky, tortoise-like shell were two muscular arms with only three fingers on each hand. Each of the heads were a different, pale, color, and each one had six red and blue eyes. One head was a light gray, another was ash-black, the head sticking out of the right of the higher and lower heads was a grayish-red, and the left head was a grayish-blue.  
  
"What da bloody 'ell is dat?!" howled Fional.  
  
"It...is the Death Wraith!" Diana whispered.  
  
"Rrrrr...!" the Wraith growled, raising his clutched claw. It opened it's hand and in it lain a navy blue crystal full of gray and tan ashes. Red mist surrounded it.  
  
"No...!" Diana gasped. "They have found the ashes!" The Death Wraith held the crystal like a dagger and stabbed itself with it. The stone broke and the ashes poured onto the skin of the Wraith. It's body lit up and started to mutate. Everyone watched. The party's mouths and eyes were open wide. The form of the Wraith now was of a hideous monster. Jagged "wings" were pointing out of the body, leading up. It sort of had the head of a man with lavender skin and an enormous head-piece with two large black and yellow shells, pointing outward like the "wings". It's feet were wrapped in what appeared to be long, green leaves. It's outstretched hands were spread out and had extensive nails.  
  
"Master Zophar!" Royce, Xenobia, and Taben exclaimed, kneeling.  
  
"Yes! I am Zophar! Master of darkness!" he yelled. "Ah...now then." Zophar turned to Diana. "You. You are the one I am looking for. You are the one I must stop now until I continue my glorious plans."  
  
"You do not scare me!" Diana shouted. "I will destroy you and halt your 'glorious plans'!"  
  
"Heh, heh, heh." Zophar chortled. "What makes you so sure that you can stop me? Now that I have absorbed the power of Althena's Dragons, I am unstoppable. You are wasting your breath, my sweet."  
  
"Oh, am I?" Diana's hand started to glow. "I know I will be victorious, Zophar. That is because I have the aspect of Althena in my blood, the magic of the Four Dragons, humanity on my side," She glanced back at Ravin. "And the power of love."  
  
"The power of love?!" Zophar laughed. "You are delirious, child! Do you possibly think that that boy you see is your loved one?! You are even more mixed up than I thought. You have the stupidity of both your mother and your mortal father."  
  
"I do think that Ravin is. And I think Ravin feels the same way." She turned to Ravin. She gave him a look that read "you love me, don't you?". He smiled and nodded. Diana smiled back and turned back to Zophar, who was laughing to himself.  
  
"As I said before, you are delirious." Zophar smirked. "Ravin never loved you."  
  
Diana frowned. "What...?"  
  
"That's right. He never loved you. He was just playing with your mind this entire time, after he found out you were from the Blue Star. All of those compliments, loving moments, all of it were lies!"  
  
"I would NEVER do that!" Ravin objected.  
  
"How would SHE know that?" Zophar argued.  
  
"Rrr! I've had ENOUGH OF YOU!!!" Ravin transformed into the White Dragon and attacked Zophar. Zophar used a dark energy and nearly destroyed Ravin. Ravin lied on the floor, motionless.  
  
"Ravin, NO!" Diana cried. She gave Zophar a nasty look and got her hand ready to cast an earth-shattering kaboom of an attack. Before she could act, Zophar threw a purple dagger and it went right through Diana like a knife. She fell to her knees, her breath labored. She looked at the fallen Ravin, who's head is now up with a shocked look on his dragon face. Diana's vision blured. She gritted her teeth and whispered, "I-I kill you..." She fell to the floor and fainted. Blood slowly flowed outward from her stomach.  
  
"RRAAAAHHH!!" Ravin howled. Ravin's eyes grew angry with rage and he slowly got up. Ravin shot fire at Zophar and the monster blocked it and disappeared. The party watched, feeling helpless.  
  
"What are you going to do, Ravin? Sit there and enjoy the death of your 'one true love'? Ha ha ha ha ha! Aha ha ha ha ha ha! AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!" Zophar's voice paused. "Xenobia! Royce! Take care of them! I havn't time to deal with mere mortals."  
  
"Yes, Master!" the sisters answered, as Taben disappeared to elsewhere.  
  
"You can do what you want with the others, Royce." said Xenobia. "But I want Ravin alive." Royce sneered at her sister, as she raised her staff into the air. Lightning struck everyone accept Ravin and Joon.  
  
"No!" Ravin ran over to Diana.  
  
"Let's go, Ravin." said Xenobia in a seductive voice. She snapped her fingers and she and Ravin disappeared. Royce disappeared afterwards.  
  
"Ravin!" Joon cried. "Diana! You HAVE to go after Ravin, NOW!" Joon started to glow blue. "Huh?!" 


	4. Lunar 3Chapter 4

LUNAR 3 Chapter Four: Devotion  
  
Joon started to mutate and grow ten times her size. She cried out a couple of times while she was enlarging. Once she was done, she looked like a younger version of Azura. "Whoa!" Joon gasped, her mental tones like the voice of a thirteen year old girl. "I'm all grown up! Huh." Joon looked down at her tiny friends, who were still lying on the ground from an attack. Nero, as a human, stared up at Joon, his moth wide open, his eye-brows raised. "Wow, Joon." Nero shook his head. "Joon, I'll transform into the Black Dragon. Help me bring these guys down to the ground. They'll need help...and fast." He morphed into the Black Dragon. Both Dragons stood on their hind legs and gently picked Diana, Fional, Liah, Aimee, and Ryan up. Nero had Fional, Ryan, and Liah on his back, and Joon had Diana and Aimee on hers. They flew from the Neo-Grindery, to the ground away from it. Joon turned back into a cat, while Nero turned into a human. "Ugh...you can't carry them like that." Nero shrugged. "Well, I can't be a Dragon around town!" Joon objected. "You know what'll happen." "The only way we'll be able to help these guys, then, is if YOU turn into a human too." "Me?!" Joon exclaimed. "But I'm not old enough, yet." "Who said you had to be a right age?" "Ravin." "Well, you can't." Nero told her. "You can be of any age. Now, do you want to be human?" "Of course I do!" Joon smiled. I just hope I turn into a beautiful young lady instead of an ugly little girl. she thought. "Okay," Nero started. "Now, do this."  
  
* * *  
  
"Let me go!" Ravin yelled at Xenobia. He was tied to a stone wall in chains. Xenobia was a few inches away from him. "Easy, handsome." said Xenobia, lightly kissing Ravin's cheek. Fortunatly for Ravin, he barely felt the kiss. Royce watched her sister in disgust. She rolled her eyes and looked away. "Just wait until Ghaleon comes." "Ghaleon?!" Ravin exclaimed. "I thought he was dead?" "Oh, no," Xenobia smirked. "He's more alive and powerful as ever. He was resurrected." "Resurrected?" "He was brought back to life, by the Death Wraith." Xenobia explained. "To help Zophar destroy Lunar and the Blue Star. I fell in love with him when the Magic Emperor existed. But he never loved me. He was using me and my sisters to only kill the last Dragonmaster." Xenobia looked up. "And here he comes." Ravin was preparing himself for the worst. He was waiting for one of the evilest mortals ever. One of the most vile, most wicked, and most twisted men of all. A damnable Sage named-- "LAIKE???!" Ravin shouted. He stared at the hooded figure that was staring right back at him in shock. "Y...YOUR Ghaleon?!" Ghaleon...or Laike...or whoever he was anymore...looked down at his feet. "So, now you know." Ghaleon said. "Laike?" Xenobia laughed. "You had them call you, 'Laike'?" "Yes," Ghaleon sighed. "I had applied the name of my best friend's rebirth: Laike." "Why?" Ravin asked. "Why did you help us?" "You HELPED them?!" Xenobia exclaimed. "Traitor! First you betray me, now you betray Master Zophar?!" Xenobia disappeared. Ghaleon knew that his time was going to end real soon, so he made no move to try and stop her.  
  
* * *  
  
"WHAT?!" Zophar yelled. "HE AIDED THE PRINCESS OF THE BLUE STAR?!" "Yes, Master." said Xenobia. "And I've captured the White Dragon." "That is impossible. The White Dragon is dead." "No, it is not Nall," said Xenobia. "It is his son." "Hmm. He will be of no threat to me, without his Dragon magic." Zophar said to himself. "Take away his Dragon aura and give it to me. And send Ghaleon." "Yes, Master." Xenobia disappeared again.  
  
Royce was silently watching and listening to their conversation.  
  
* * *  
  
"Master Zophar wishes to speak to you, Ghaleon." Xenobia turned from the Sage as he disappeared. "Now, for you, fox." grinned Xenobia. She kissed his lips. Ravin pulled away, fiercly. "This won't hurt a bit. It'll all be over, real soon." She put her left hand to his chest. Then her hand went right into his chest, no blood leaking from anywhere. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Ravin screamed, thrashing. "RRR!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"  
  
* * *  
  
"C'mon, you guys!" Joon gritted her teeth, trying to carry Ryan. Joon looked like a teenage girl now. Her blue hair was up in a small pony-tail and her skirt was dirty from the dust she kicked up. "Wake UP!" Nero couldn't stop looking at how beautiful Joon was as a human. Every twenty seconds he'd glace at her and blush. Nero shook his head and stared down at Joon's friends. They looked lifeless. "I...don't think they will, Joon." he said.  
  
* * *  
  
Ryan was wandering around in some kind of dimension. His surroundings were just of red. An infinite background of deep red. "Where am I?" he asked himself aloud. He looked at his transparent hands. "WHAT am I?" "Your dead." "Huh?" Ryan looked up to see a man in his early twenties. He had short brown hair, was wearing a bandana, had a small stick in his mouth, and dice in his hands. "Who are you?" "I'm the past Red Hero, Ronfar." he answered, giving a cocky smirk. "Ronfar?" Ryan bit his lip. "Hey, your Fional's Gramps, aren't ya?" "Yeah," Ronfar's face grew serious. "But I'm not here to chat. I've come to bring you back to life. But first, you have to promise me something." "Sure, what?" "If I let you live again, in your own body, then you have to fight Zophar side-by-side with Ravin and the others. Without you, the world is knee-deep in crap." "Ew," Ryan raised his chin. "Okay, I will. Of course...that was my plan."  
  
* * *  
  
Aimee was walking around in a scenery of blue. She felt lost, knowing that she was the only person there. The silence there was driving her so crazy that she wanted to throw her arms in the air and scream. "Don't be scared. You're safe here." "Huh?" Aimee looked behind her and seen an emerald-haired young woman. "Who...Who are you...?" "I'm the past Blue Hero, Jean." "Blue Hero Jean?" Aimee bowed. "I thought you were dead?" "I am and so are you." "Wha...?" "That's right." Jean said. "Don't worry, I'm here to help you. But, you must make a promise to me." "Anything." "You have to fight Zophar, Aimee." Jean frowned. "Lunar is lost if you won't. Don't run away from what is happening." "But...I'm just a Healer." "Not just. You are so much more than that."  
  
* * *  
  
Liah was wandering around in the dark. She couldn't see a thing and couldn't tell if her eyes were opened or closed. Was she blind? "Okay, this is mega-creepy." Liah whispered. "Am I dead?" "Yup!" "You sound as if your glad!" Liah turned around, completely pissed at whoever answered that with happiness in their voice. "Sorry! I didn't mean to sound so happy." A blonde woman in a black dress stood behind Liah, scratching her head with embarrassment. Liah's eyes widened. "Hey, I know you. Your Lady Lemina Ausa!" "The one and only!" Lemina looked at Liah's hair. "Nice hair." "I like yours too." said Liah, noticing that theirs were the same style. "Can I ask you a question?" "You just did." "No, I mean," Liah rolled her eyes. "How did the Ausa clan continue this far? Who did you marry and have kids with?" "Eh, some fat loser, named Ramus." "Wait, I know a Ramus! He's my cousin!" "Just be glad you don't have to marry him." Lemina laughed. "I was so wrong for the guy! And he was wrong for me. I hate his hair, hate his face, hate his physique, hate his guts, love his money. Plus, he had a small...ahem!" Liah raised her eyebrows and gave Lemina an "I did NOT need to know that" look. "Anyway, let's get down to business, shall we?" "Umm...okay..." "I'll let you live, on one condition." "What? I'll do anything to live." Liah clapped her hands. "You have to help the others defeat Zophar." "I have to help them," Liah gulped. "Defeat Zophar?" "Yes," Lemina said. Liah sighed. "I'll give it my all."  
  
* * *  
  
" 'Ellooooo?" Fional called out, looking out to the white scenery. "Anybody 'ere?" "I'm glad I found you, Fional." "Wha?!" Fional got in a battle stance. "Who da bloody 'ell are ya?!" "There is no need for that profanity, my friend." said the white- haired Beastman. "I am here to help you." " 'Elp me what?" "Help you get back to your body so you can help the others defeat that monster, Zophar!" the Beastman cleared his throat. "I am the White Knight and White Hero Leo." "Yer White Knight Leo?" Fional shook his hand. "It is a pleasure to meet ya! I'm Fional!" "Nice to meet you too, Fional." Leo said, swinging his hand from Fional. "Now, I am not here to gossip and neither are you. I am here to resurrect you." "What's da catch?" "The catch is to fight Zophar by Ravin and the others' side." Leo said. "Without you, they are doomed to die an unclean death."  
  
* * *  
  
Diana was strayed around a gray, misty place. She had no idea of where she was and she was awfully scared. After a while, the fog lifted, and Diana found herself in a small village. The town was just made up of little cottages. Diana looked north of where she was standing and seen a woman drifting across a small bridge. The woman walked up to her and smiled. She had sky blue hair (which was wrapped in a colorful scarf) and eyes. "I am sorry to bother you, but..." Diana stared down at her own transparent fingers. "Where am I?" "You are in my home town, Burg." the woman answered. "In a way you aren't though." "What do you mean?" "You died inside of the Neo-Grindery, Diana." Diana's eyes widened. Was she really dead? Was that the reason why she could see through her skin? And who WAS this woman? "Who are you?" Diana asked. "And how do you know my name?" "I'm Luna." she said. "And I was the one who sent for you right after your death. "How I wish you could remember who I am." "I am sorry I do not." "That's alright." Luna smiled. "This may seem shocking to you, but I am Althena." "You are Althena?" Diana gasped. "I AM terribly, terribly sorry!" "No, no, it's okay!" Luna giggled. "Now that you know who I am, I must ask you this: Do you know the true reason why you came to Lunar?" "I was only supposed to be visiting this world, but," Diana gaped her mouth. "But, I am not so sure anymore. Afterwards I thought that I was meant to go to Lunar to meet Ravin. Then, I thought it was to find Zophar's ashes. Now, it has led to me thinking I was only brought to Lunar to defeat Zophar." "That's right." said Luna. "It is?" "Yes, you were brought here to defeat Zophar." she explained. "You were also brought for one more thing, but I will let you figure that one on your own."  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin found himself in a house of somekind. The place was of one room. The kitchen was in the back, complete with a table. Next to a door that led downstairs was a red couch. And in front of Ravin was a ladder leading up to a bedroom. He climbed up a second ladder, leading up to a tower. Across the lake he could see the Blue Spire, much younger-looking than the one he'd seen before. Ravin sensed someone behind him. He turned around and seen a familiar- looking young man, a little older than himself. He was wearing black pants and a long blue shirt. The man had short hair (similar to Diana's, only dark brown) and soft brown eyes, and two green stripes/tattoos on his right cheek. "What the...?" Ravin backed up. "You...You're Hiro, aren't you? Diana's father?" "That's right." Hiro said. "You were a great being." Ravin said. "Thanks," Hiro kind of blushed. "Do you know why you met up with my daughter, Ravin?" "No, not really." Ravin shrugged. "I don't know what to think." "You met with her to help her defeat Zophar with the power of humanity." Hiro explained. "I was able to defeat Zophar with the help of my friends and the power of humanity. You must do the same. As the White Dragon, you are the leader and it is your duty to protect Lunar." "But...I'm not a Dragon anymore." Ravin looked down. "That bitch, Xenobia, stole my Dragon aura...and now I'm just a human." "Then as a human, you must lead your friends into the final battle!" "Very well, then." Ravin sighed, then perked up. "I hope I do not disappoint you, Hiro!" "I'm sure you won't." Hiro was just about to leave, when he turned back at Ravin. "Tell Lucia and Diana...that I miss them." Hiro smiled. "However, you'd better take care of my little girl. See ya, Ravin!"  
  
* * *  
  
"Ravin! Ravin, wake up, you idiot!" Royce slapped him over and over in the face. His eyes snapped open and he gasped for air. Royce slapped him once more. "Ow!" he cried. "What's the big idea?!" "Shh!" Royce hushed him. "Zophar's creating his domain around the Neo- Grindery! You have to get out of here!" "Wait a sec! When did you start to help out?" "I am completely against my sister. I've learned my lesson when I battled Dragonmaster Alex. I want to help you." "How can I trust you? You're probably going to be like Ghaleon!" "You're just going to have to trust me!" Royce placed her hands on the chains that Ravin was in and they disappeared. "Now, I can transport you out of here for only so far. Your going to have to run the rest of the way. Afterwards, I'll send Ghaleon to bring you back your Dragon aura."  
  
* * *  
  
Joon was crying on Nero's shoulder, knowing that her friends were dead. "It's so unfair, Nero!" Joon sobbed. "It CAN'T be the end, can it?" "We just have to have faith, Joon." Nero said, rubbing her shoulder with his hand.  
  
"Ahhhh!" Ravin was falling from the sky. Joon and Nero looked up, as Ravin crashed into the earth. "Ravin!" Joon cried, embracing her friend. "I'm so glad your okay!" "Me too." Ravin stared at Joon with amazment. "Ha! Look at you! I guess you don't have to be at a certain age!" Joon laughed, dispite that her friends were dead. She frowned again. "Ravin... the....they didn't wake up..." "What...?" Ravin looked at Diana's body. He lifted her head up. "No...No, she can't be...be..." Tears started to fill Ravin's eyes. "I'm such an idiot! I was supposed to take care of her!" Ravin cried for a long while. Nero and Joon started to cry for him. "I didn't even tell Diana how I really felt about her." "I think she knew," Joon sniffed. Ravin placed his lips on Diana's forehead for as long as he cried. Diana's eyes opened. Joon noticed and smiled, not saying anything to Ravin. One of his tears fell on Diana's cheek. "Do not cry." Diana whispered to Ravin. He gasped and looked at her. Her wound, from the dagger, was starting to sew and heal itself. "Diana..." Ravin breathed. He looked behind himself and seen Fional, Liah, Aimee, and Ryan awaken.  
  
* * *  
  
That night, everyone slept good. Nothing woke them up. All of them were in their sleeping bags, except for Nero and Joon, who were both cats now and were cuddled up next to each other. Ravin and Diana were off somewhere near camp. "I am sorry about your Dragon aura, Ravin." Diana's voice was almost a whisper. "Yeah," Ravin said, sadly. He thought about it for a while. Even though part of him was gone, he still felt that two-thirds of himself was still with him: His friends and family, and Diana. "I thought I'd lost you for a while, there." Ravin said, lacing his fingers with Diana's. "For a moment, there, you did." Diana said, facing Ravin. He looked into Diana's eyes, as the reflection of a comet shafted across the night sky. He seen her soul again. It looked like an aura of different shades of blue with stars dotted all around. He was dazed. Ravin pulled her towards him, and his lips touched her own, she felt the sudden flash fire of desire spark between them. She lost her balance and fell back, bringing Ravin down with her. He kneeled, kissing Diana's cheek, her eyes, and her neck. She moaned softly, feeling his balmy lips brush against her bare skin. Ravin softly lied down, still over Diana, but not so he constrained so much against her. He stopped kissing her and just rested his head next to Diana's. She turned over on her side, not facing Ravin, but pressed against him, still feeling his body warmth. He nuzzled his nose in her soft blue hair, and crept his right arm around Diana and clutched her hand. They ended up falling asleep in that position. Joon opened one eye and scanned the camping area. She noticed that Ravin and Diana were gone. She grinned and trotted off to find them. When she did, she seen them sleeping next to one another. Joon smiled to herself and walked back to camp; to Nero.  
  
* * *  
  
The next morning. Nobody mentioned anything about Ravin and Diana when they walked into camp, while everyone was awake. That's because Joon told them ahead of time and told them not to make any jokes. Ravin and Diana were starting to get a little suspicious, but they didn't ask or say anything. Since they were close to Schorr, Fional wanted to check it, but he soon found out that nothing was left of it. He took it very hard, and told himself over and over that he was a failure. "It's okay, Fional." Joon told him, sitting on his shoulder. "Nero said that this was the cause of the Neo-Grindery. Even if you WERE here, you wouldn't have been able to stop it." "Sigh...That's true..." Fional stood up, wiped a tear from his eye, and walked back to his friends.  
  
They were all low on Items, so they decided to go to Vane to stock up on every kind of item possible. Liah had to go discuss something with her Mother, so she left everyone else to shop. She also told them to buy things from her cousin, Ramus, for he has better deals. "Yes, I have to leave for a minute, too." Aimee said, walking out of the Weapons Shop. "I'll be in the library if you need me." She walked to the library, but as soon as she walked through the door, she wanted to turn around and go back. She'd seen Trot in the library. Unfortunatly for Aimee, he seen his fiance and was walking over to her. "Aimee, my love, what a coincidence to find you here!" Trot grabbed Aimee's arms and kissed her forehead. "I went to Zulan the other day and you weren't there, so I've been looking all over for you to ask you if you've decided to go with me. Have you?" "Well, I--"  
  
"I think that's a million-dollar idea, Mom!" exclaimed Liah, who was walking into the library with a dark-haired woman. "Really?" she asked. "I wasn't so sure at first, since this IS an artifact of Althena." "Liah?" Aimee gasped. "Aimee?" Liah gaped. "Uh, Mother, can I meet you back at the guild? I gotta talk to Aimee, here." "Of course! And it's great to see you again, Aimee." Liah's mom said, walking out of the library. "Trot, what are you doing here?" Liah demanded. "I was here to get a book, but then I ran into Aimee." Trot brought Aimee close. "She was just about to give me her answer, before she was RUDLY interrupted. Go ahead, my dear." "Actually, I haven't had enough time to think it all the way through." Aimee said. "I've been so caught up with...other things." "You haven't met another man, have you?" Trot asked. "You are such a guy, Trot!" Liah yelled. Trot paused and smiled. "Thanks." "Ugh! You know Aimee only has room for one man in her heart! Unfortunatly, it HAD to be you!" Liah flung her arms in the air and turned to her best friend. "Why HIM? Why not...Ah! I don't know! Why not Fional?" "Because I've known Trot longer." Aimee replied, looking at her fiance. "So, you've decided to go with me?" Trot asked. "Great! We'll leave at once--" "Oh, I'll go with you," Aimee said. "But I've got other things to take care of."  
  
* * *  
  
Since they weren't strong enough to defeat or even confront Zophar, the party decided to go to Taben's Peak with Ravin. It was a long walk, but they made it. Once they entered the woods around Taben's Peak, Ravin heard a loud screach and afterwards a cry of terror. Ravin didn't waste any time and just darted towards the tower, while everyone else followed him. The elevator wasn't there. They ran up the stairs and ran through the wooden bridges up towards the top of Taben's Peak, battling Dopplegangers, Blood Wyburns, Shellshredders, and Cannonfoots along the way. Once getting to the top, Ravin seen something horrible. He seen all of the children of Taben's Peak floating inside spheres of gel, all frightened and cryin, some trying to get themselves out. Ravin ran over to one of the orbs, that held his sister. Bianca looked up at her brother, and started to claw at the inside of the bubble. "Don't worry, Bianca!" Ravin cried. "I'll get you and the others out!" He grabbed his dagger and started to stab at the rondure of goo. He couldn't break through it. "Wait here." "Uh, I don't think she can go anywhere, Ravi." Joon pointed out. He ignored her and headed towards the playground. Even more children were in bubbles. Ruby was one of the victims. The same screach. Everyone looked up and seen a gelatin Pterridactal-like monster, flapping it's transparent wings. It was sharply pointed on both the front and the back side of it's head. Only the back side of it's head had teeth and eyes, like the front, and was breathing skyblue/seagreen mist through it's nostrils. "So...it was THAT thing that did this!" Ravin said. His hands started to flare up. "PYRO SPHERES!!!" Fire seemed to take off alot of damage to the Pterri. It roared in pain and hovered directly over Ravin. It's neck started to twist around until the back head was in the front. It slowly breathed the mist on Ravin. He screamed in pain, as if the mist was poisonous or something. He started to scratch at his burning face and eyes. He started to cough, also. "Ravin!" Diana cried, quickly casting her Heal Litany. Ravin was soon relieved from the sting. He nodded in Diana's direction. "CATASTROPHE!!!" Liah summoned the elemental magic assult, damaging the Pterri greatly. It once-again used the Poison Mist attack, only on Liah, who started having the same feeling as Ravin had. Ryan used an Antidote on her, losing his turn to attack. Fional kept using Flash Arrow on the Pterri, since it took off alot of Hit Points and didn't use up alot of Magic Points. Aimee used Divine Litany on everyone in her group, giving them a certain amount of Hit Points after each turn. Ravin kept using Pyro Spheres. Diana would use Conflagration if she wasn't healing someone. Fional would always use White Dragon Protect, if he wasn't using Flash Arrow. Ryan would use Sword Dance on every turn, if Aimee would do all of the healing on every turn. Joon would blow some bubbles in the Pterri's face and Nero would do the same thing, only violet sparks would shoot from his mouth. Soon the Pterri disappeared in red smoke and all of the Dragon Kids were freed from the gel spheres. Bianca had found her brother and gave him a big hug. She let go to let Ruby embrace Ravin. "I'm so glad you're okay." she said. "I'm glad YOU'RE okay." Ravin replied. He stepped away from his mother and noticed that she was a little bit rounder around the belly. "Don't tell me THAT happened when Fional came over." " 'Ey!" Fional exclaimed. "I 'ad nothin' to do wit dat!" "He's right." Ruby started to blush. "He passed out before this happened." Ravin hit his forehead. "I just hope it's a kid brother this time." "I'm not sure; not yet." Ruby said. "I'm going to have to wait a little while longer." She paused. "What are you guys going to do now? I suppose you're not going to Zophar's creepy place, yet." "Nope," Ryan answered. "We aren't strong enough, yet. And I have no idea how were gonna get more strength."  
  
"I'll train you." Everyone looked over at the fence, that was surrounding the playground. Royce was standing on it. "What da bloody 'ell are ya doin' 'ere?!" Fional yelled at the Sorceress. "Stop yelling, Fional, we can trust her." Ravin said. "Why?" Nero asked. "You know when I fell from the sky on you and Joon?" Ravin asked the black cat. "Well, she was the one responsible for that. She helped me escape from the Neo-Grindery and from Zophar. She's totally against Xenobia." "Yes," Royce agreed. "And another reason why I will be training you instead of Ghaleon or 'Laike' is because Zophar...killed him...and that was his wish for me." Royce continued. "I will be able to train you in less than a week, so that you'll be able to defeat Zopahr before he gets to the point where he is invincable." "But...to defeat Zophar...it does not depend on strength alone." Diana objected. "No, but all of you are friends, I presume?" Royce asked. Everyone nodded. "And friends care about and help each other. So, not only will you have the strength, but you'll also have teamwork."  
  
* * *  
  
They all trained for six days. Everybody, Ravin, Fional, Liah, Aimee, and Ryan (not including Diana because she has infinate levels or Joon because she doesn't gain any) were five times stronger than they were before. Aimee learned a few more healing spells. "Now, for your last obstical." Royce told the group. "You must defeat me, along with Xenobia and Taben, if you want to be remotely as strong as Zophar." she said. "Let the battle begin." Royce began to transform.. Her entire body grew together, except for her arms, which seemed to be growing outward. Her body started to stretch into quite a distance. When she was through, she looked like a grey viper with huge wings. The viper had dark red leapord spots dotted all around her back. She scrunched up into an 'S' shape, beared her venom-dripping fangs, the size of Great Danes, and striked, poisoning Aimee. "Don't take me too lightly, because I won't go easy on you." the Viprus hissed. "ICE LANCE!!!" Ravin yelled, inpaling Royce with ice daggers. "ANIMA SCRAG!!!" a dark, fiery mist flowed from in between Diana's fingers. The mist rapidly flew upward and took on the shape of a manical demon. The demon's scales were made of molten lava, it's two large horns sticking out from where it's temples would be were like obsidian. It had three yellow eyes. The crimson beast roared and started to claw at the Viprus like mad, taking off two-thousand Hit Points. "Whoa!!" everyone exclaimed. "FLASH ARROW!!!" Fional howled. "CATASTROPHE!!!" summoned Liah. "SONIC BREAKTHROUGH!!!" Ryan hollared. Royce used the Terror Strike, that she used the first time, on Ryan, then she used a different one right after that. She flew up into the air and crashed down beneath the earth, shaking, rattling, and rolling the battlefield, taking extreme damage off of everyone. They used all of the spells they just casted again, and Aimee kept using Calm Litany and Clean Litany on her friends. The battle went on until night and they were running out of healing items. Beating Royce was seeming almost impossible, now. "Ready to give up, yet?" Royce asked. "No!" Ravin yelled, attacking her with another Ice Lance. They all battled for three more hours. Royce was starting to weaken. For the final blow, Diana casted Napalm Shot, and destroyed Royce. She roared and started to shrink back into a human form. She was pretty beaten up. "Y...You've...beaten me..." the Sorceress coughed. "I guess...you WERE meant to...go on." "Royce!" Joon cried. "You didn't say we were gonna kill you!" "It's okay..." she whispered. "I wanted this to happen. You must hurry back... *cough*...to the Minea Sea. Zophar's Domain...is probably already built...around the Neo-Grindery. Go!" Royce urged, fading away. Everyone looked down at the ground, with a sad look on their faces. Soon, they all made camp, getting ready for the boss battle ahead of them.  
  
* * *  
  
"Witout yer Dragon aura or whatever," Fional argued. "'Ow are we gonna get to Zophar's domain?" "That's a good question." Ravin said. "We can't ask Nero because he went back to his cave." "Hey, uh, I have an idea!" Joon cried. "We can't go by ship, like we did last time." Liah pointed out, the three of them still ignoring the blue cat. "Hey! I can fly us there!" said Joon. "Me! Me! Me! Me! Me!" "I've got an idea!" Ryan announce. "Why doesn't Joon turn into the Blue Dragon and fly us there!" "That's a great idea!" they all exclaimed. "It's a shock that it came from you." Liah laughed, nudging Ryan with her hips. He grinned. "It DIDN'T come from him!" Joon yelled. "It came from ME, ya know!"  
  
* * *  
  
Joon flew over the Minea Sea, with her friends sitting on her back. They sat in this order: First Diana, then Ravin, Fional, Aimee, Liah, and Ryan. Joon swiftly flew down until she skimmed the surface of the water with her claws. "I wish I could, like, stay this way!" Joon said, curving her mouth into a smirk. "It's a whole lot more fun, ya know?" "I wouldn't know." Aimee said, loud enough to be heard. Peaking up over the horizon of the Minea Sea, there was a twisted grayish-blue structure with four "towers" that clawed at the sky. Large amounts of blue mucous drip off of the sickening erection. You could barely see the Neo-Grindery inside of the pile. "What HAPPENED?" Ravin whispered. "That's what happens to Zophar's surroundings if he stays in one place." Diana told him. She clutched her Pendant. Please...let everything be okay. Diana prayed.  
  
They battled some strong monsters, such as Mongrels, Flash Lords, Hades, Fiend Gates, and Element Seeds, on the way to the top of Zophar's Domain. They all rationed their items for the battle with Zophar. They finally made it to the top of the Neo-Grindery, but the path started to turn blue with mold and continue downward.  
  
"You cannot defeat Master Zophar!" cried a male voice. Taben appeared in front of the group. "Out of our way, old man!" Fional hissed. "We 'ave no time to waste wit ya!" "I will destroy you!" the inventor yelled, beginning to transform. He started to grow taller, and longer in length for that matter. His back was starting to stretch into a half of an animal, like a horse. When he was done, Taben was like a huge Centuar. He'd grown more, finer hair around his face. And his cloak was in ripping shreds, but still clinging to his body. He reared up and bellowed, then stomping the ground with his hooves. The hair on his back pricked, his nose was flaring, and there was fire reaching out of his, now empty, eyesockets. He stood on his front legs, kicked, and breathed fire on the party that was shaped like a leaping horse. "ICE WALL!!!" Ravin screamed, casting a plate of ice around the Centuar. "PLASMA RAIN!!!" yelled Diana. "FLASH ARROW!!!" howled Fional. "BLIZZARD!!!" Liah casted. "SONIC BREAKTHROUGH!!!" Ryan cried. "DIVINE LITANY!!!" Aimee healed. All of them, except for Aimee, who on every turn healed her friends, and Diana, who used Anima Scrag later on when Taben was weakened, used their previous magic attacks on every turn until Taben faded away. Nobody said anything when he did, and just carried on with the trail of monsters.  
  
* * *  
  
Now that they were more experienced with all of the monsters they've seen, they had no more use for their items, and stocked up with every item they found after every battle. Soon they thought that they'd have more than enough when they battled and defeated Zophar. "The end is in sight!" Liah exclaimed. "For all of you," whispered a familiar provacative voice of a woman. Xenobia appeared. "Except Ravin." She walked up to him and stroked his cheek with her long fingers. He pulled away. "Don't...touch me." Ravin growled. "You might as well get used to it, dearest," Xenobia told him. "Because there is going to be alot of touching between us." Joon scoffed. "Oh, yeah, fine, sure, whatever--NOT!" "Don't worry," the Sorceress told the others. "I will make sure your deaths are quick and painful." Xenobia transformed like everyone else before her. Her body morphed into the shape of an agile cat. She was through. She was a dark purple, skeletal cheetah, with two extra legs, and two tentacles that reached out from it's shoulderblades. One-by-one, Xenobia quickly finished off all of the party members, leaving Ravin stand. He tried to protect everyone, but he couldn't, and they couldn't protect themselves either. He growled to himself, and stared at Xenobia's monster form. He grabbed the sword from the fainted Ryan's hands and stood in a battle stance. He clutched the hilt of the sword tightly and ran towards Xenobia. He raised the blade to strike, but the sword got knocked from his hands, he felt a firm jab in his face, and he felt himself get lifted off the ground from his leg. He was hanging upside- down, looking at Xenobia's cat face. "Settle down." she said. She put him back down and started to change back into a human. She walked over to him. "I take it you've had enough fighting?" "Yes, I'm through." Ravin shrugged. "I've got myself outnumbered, here, anyway." "Good." Xenobia started to walk away, expecting Ravin to follow her. He did. Picking up Ryan's sword along the way. She turned around to say something to Ravin, but it was too late. He'd already stabbed her with the blade. She looked down at the sword and back up at Ravin, who was smiling. He yanked it out of her, and she fell. He sighed, reached into his pocket, and pulled out an Angel's Tear. He revived Aimee with it, so that she could revive everyone else.  
  
* * *  
  
They finally made it to the top of Zophar's Domain. It was too quiet up there. "Where is he?" Liah asked, referring to Zophar. "He is close." Diana said. Her shaking hand grabbed hold of Ravin's. They looked at each other. Diana had a look on her face that read, "I'm scared". He nodded and held her hand tighter. "Ah...I see you've come, after all," said the voice of Zophar. He appeared. Zophar looked the same, only he had four snake-like demons sticking out from somewhere on his back, and his chest had five balls of light buried inside of his "skin". One was red, another was blue, the third was purple, the fourth was white, and the one in the center was a silvery color. "Have you come to beg for mercy, since I have killed you once before?" "Hardly, Zophar." said Diana. "This victory is going to be mine." "Alright, then, I'll show you the hard way that I cannot be defeated now that I have absorbed the power of the Four Dragons." Zophar crossed his arms and his four demons coiled around each other. Nothing really happened. Ravin gritted his teeth. "FLAME BOMB!!!" "CONFLAGRATION!!!" Diana yelled. Fional tried to use Flash Arrow(as usual, since that's all the bloody man can do) No words came out of his mouth. He was Mute! He snapped his fingers and drank some Holy Water. No longer was he mute. Liah used Catastrophe on every turn until she ran out of MP, then she just used a Starlight or Silverlight. Aimee used Divine Litany first, then used Calm Litany, Purity Litany, or revived a charactor. Ryan kept using Sword Dance. For Zophar's second attack, he extended his arm, and triggered a meteor shower, giving everybody a small amount of damage. Ravin used Ice Lance or Pyro Spheres on his turns; he always seemed to aim for Zophar's chest. And everybody else used their same magic. Though Diana used Anima Scrag on Zophar and he disappeared. "No, no, this cannot be right." Diana whispered. "This was too easy." "Way too easy." Ravin agreed. "Maybe Zophar was wimpier than we thought." Joon guessed. "I dunno." Ravin sounded unsure. "What WAS that attack?!" Zophar's voice exclaimed. "That demon! I MUST have that power!" A bigger version of Zophar appeared, the Dragon auras still in his chest. The ball in his chest that held the auras floated from him towards Diana. It picked up speed as it got closer. "Ah! No!" Diana cried, trying to run away. The orb touched Diana's hand and swallowed her up. "Aah!" "Diana!" Ravin cried, trying to grab her hand, that was sticking out of the globe. "Ravin!" Diana shouted. "Do not touch it! You will get pulled in too!" THe orb pulled away from Ravin and floated back to Zophar, and placed itself in the hole in Zophar's chest. The Dragon auras were going crazy and were bouncing around inside of the sphere. Marigold goo started to drip from Zophar's opening, slowly covering the top and bottom of the orb, holding it in place. "It is mine!" Zophar roared. "The ultimate power is mine! You haven't the slightest chance of stopping me now!" He used the Anima Scrag attack on the party, making all of them fall to the ground. "No-o-o!" Diana bawled, tears flying from her eyes as she shook her head. She seen Ravin trying to get up. He kept on trying to use his magic on Zophar, trying to get Diana out. Pretty soon, the orb broke like glass, releasing the Dragon auras and Diana. The tiny balls of light floated out of Zophar's Domain to where their beholders were. And the silver aura went to Ravin. He inhaled as his power spread throughout his veins. Without hesitation, Diana leaped from the orb and towards Ravin. All four of Zophar's demons stretched out and wrapped themselves tightly around Diana, restraining her. She cried out once as one bit down on her. Ravin tried grabbing her hand, but the demons swiftly brought her back to Zophar. He was going to use Red Dragon Anger on Zophar to make him let go, but Zophar was getting ready to use Anima Scrag once more. "Ravin!" Diana cried, extending her hand. "Get away from here!" A familiar bright light shot from her hand. The party disappeared.  
  
* * *  
  
Everyone was in Vane. They all looked around at their surroundings, asking themselves where they were. It was night out. "Wha...?!" Ravin exclaimed, kneeling. "No!" He slammed his fist into the ground. "Why did Diana do that?" Joon asked no one in particular. "She did it to take us away from danger." Aimee whispered. "You don't think she's...?" Liah started. "Don't say that!" Ravin interrupted. "She can't be, you know...or else Zophar wouldn't have his 'power'." Joon said. "Joon's right." Ravin said. "We'll go back to Zophar's Domain in the morning. We'll be stock up on goods and be all healed up, by then."  
  
The next morning. Ravin was in an armor shop, trying on some light armor. Fional popped his head in the door. "Ready?" he asked. Ravin nodded, purchased the armor, and walked out with Fional. "Alright. Let's get goin'."  
  
They were all on Ravin's back, flying slowly above the Minea Sea. Ravin roared three times. Joon started to glow blue again. She quickly flew away from Ravin to morph into the Blue Dragon. Soon, Ruby and Nero came along, asking Ravin in Dragon-tongue what their orders were. Ravin started to fly in the direction of Zophar's Domain. The Red, Blue, and Black Dragons followed their leader. They formed into the shape of a diamond, with Ravin in the front and Ruby in the back. Ravin roared, as they all started to glow. As they flew, the Dragons left trails of light in their wake. They all started to fly in a zigzag pattern, crossing in front of the other, like a braid. The Red, Blue, and Black Dragons all caught up with Ravin. The White Dragon opened his jaws and a blinding stream of white magic erupted from the Dragon's mouth. The Black, Blue, and Red Dragons all follow the White Dragon's lead, unleashing streams of magic. The magic hit some sort of shield that was casted around the molding castle. When the Dragons flew away, it expolded. Ravin roared, dismissing Ruby and Nero. Joon turned back into a cat and flew towards Ravin. "That was so much fun!" Joon exclaimed. "I LOVE flying fast, like that!" She followed Ravin, who was glding down to somewhere to land. When he did, he changed back into a human. He and the others traveled back to where Zophar was. He was still there, now zapping energy from Diana, who was now up against a pillar made up of the skeletons of tiny animals and crusified in thorned vines. She was bleeding alot, but none of the wounds were serious. "Diana!" Ravin shouted. "R...Ravin...?" she whispered, slowly opening her eyes. "No...You must get away from here...Ugh...Zophar is...stronger than he was before..." "I see you have returned." growled Zophar. "However, you won't live as long as you have before." "Shut up! Just shut up, Zophar!" Ravin yelled. "I've had it up it HERE with you! This WILL stop!" Ravin morphed back into a Dragon and used White Dragon Protect on his friends and himself. "I think not." Zophar said, unleashing his first attack, that was the same one as last time. The battled continued with Ravin using Red Dragon Anger or White Dragon Protect, his Magic Points never ran out as long as he was a Dragon, Fional using Flash Arrow or items, Liah using Catastrophe, Aimee using Divine Litany or any other healing spells, and Ryan using Sword Dance. Ravin growled and breathed fire on the pillar Diana was on. She flinched, but she wasn't burnt. She fell from the pillar and landed on her knees. Aimee quickly healed her. "Oh, thank goodness!" Diana exclaimed. Ravin smiled and pulled away from her. She revived everyone in the party so they could fight. All of them were at maximum health. "THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE! HOW CAN THIS BE?!" Zophar yelled. "It's because of my love for Diana." Ravin told him. "As always, love conquers all." Ravin casted White Dragon Protect on everyone in the party, and he casted Red Dragon Anger whenever he could. Everyone else used their most powerful attacks. Finally, Zophar, the god of darkness and destruction, was vanquished and was never to be revived again.  
  
* * *  
  
The day after defeating Zophar, everybody was hanging outside of Taben's Peak. Fional was there, drinking something, saying that he's going to be a full-time protector for Schorr, once it gets rebuilt. "Ya know," Fional said. "I'm gonna use dat White Dragon Crest to protect Schorr. It'd be a whole lot easier for me." He sipped from the jug again. "Don't worry, Ravin. I'm not drunk, so I know what I'm talkin' 'bout." "I'll see you around, Fional." Ravin laughed, as the Beastman walked away. Joon flew onto his shoulder. "What a guy, what a guy." Joon sighed. "Even though I HATE to admit it, I AM gonna miss him." Ravin laughed and walked over to Liah, who was standing next to a flirting Ryan and a black-haired woman in a dark red cloak. Once he got to her, Liah kept telling Ravin that she was going to make big money for the "mega-display" of the Black Dragon Crest. "Though, everybody'll PROBABLY think it's fake." she shrugged. "Oh, yeah! Ravin, this is my Mom, Miaka Ausa. It was HER idea to put the thing on display." "So, YOUR Lady Miaka Ausa." Ravin said, shaking the woman's hand. "Liah told me that you were looking for new members for--what was it?--the Magic Guild? Sorry that we couldn't join." "That's quite alright, Ravin." Miaka smiled. "Maybe if you talk to Ruby, my Mom, she'll hook you up with some people who are interested in joining the guild." "Thank you! I'll talk to her as soon as possible." "Umm...uh, hey, Ravin." Ryan whispered. "I think Liah's a total hottie. And I WANNA ask her out, but--Ah! What should I do? You're an expert on girls, since you got a cute one yourself..." "Tell ya what, Ryan." Joon smiled. "I can be of GREAT help for this. Match-making is MY specialty--I mean, look at Ravi and Diana! I fixed them up on a date and they already made--" Ravin shoved out of the way. "Hey! Anyway, just give me a call and a huge trout and I'll fix you up." Ryan nodded. Ravin walked over to Aimee, who was discussing wedding plans with Trot. "Oh, hi, Ravin!" Aimee exclaimed. "Trot said that I could stay being a Healer for Zulan! And we're getting married!" "That's great!" Ravin smiled. "I'm happy for you two!" "Yet, ANOTHER satisfied customer!" Joon beamed a smile. "Joon, you didn't help these two out in ANY way." Ravin told her. "Yeah, but--" "We can hold the best wedding ever, my love!" Trot exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Aimee. "This diamond--" "You mean pile of dried crap." Joon corrected him. Trot shivered. "...will make...us rich..." he gagged.  
  
"Hey, Ravin," Joon said. "Go find Diana and discuss *cough* YOUR plans." She turned around and looked at Nero, in human form, waving at her. "I'VE got some business to attend to." "Ha, ha! Okay, I'll see you around." Ravin walked off to the playground, where he found Diana, swinging by herself on a swing. No kids were around. Perfect! He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "What's wrong?" Ravin asked. "My Mother..." "What about her?" "She's going to get reborn, soon." She sounded sad. She took a deep breath and sighed. "Ravin?" Diana asked. "Hmm?" "Did you really mean that...back at Zophar's Domain?" "Did I really mean what, Diana?" "That you...loved me?" She turned around to face him. "Yes, Diana..." Ravin smiled. "I love you." He noticed that a tear streamed down Diana's face. He wiped it away. "Great," she said, not sounding especially happy. "Now, it makes it better for me to leave." "Why would you leave?" "My Mother is getting reborn!" she cried. "That means I will never see her again. And soon, the Blue Star will need me." "I can go with you, can't I?" he asked "Ooh...I do not know." Diana wiped more tears from her eyes. "It was difficult to bring both of us to the Blue Star that one time. I do not know if I am able to do it again." "Well, if you can't, I...I understand." Ravin lowered his voice and looked down. "Do not think of it that way, Ravin." Diana whispered. "I would stay here if I could, but...the Blue Star needs me...my Mother needs me..." "And I need you." Ravin said. He looked away from her. Then back at her. "What about the Star Dragon Tower?" "Star Dragon...Tower?" "Yeah!" Ravin almost started to laugh. "Your Dad used it to go to the Blue Star! Why can't I?" "I suppose you could." Diana smiled. "But...we will have to hurry." "Okay." Ravin said. "Just give me a minute." He ran off to find Ruby and Bianca and Joon. Fortunatly for him, Joon hadn't left, yet, with Nero. She was in human form, talking to Ruby and Bianca. "Mom? Bianca? Joon?" "What?" they all asked simutaneously. "I'm...leaving with Diana." "Whoo! Hoooo!" Joon howled. "Boom! Chicka, chicka! Ooooh, YEAH! I KNEW it was gonna happen!" "You're glad I'm going to the Blue Star?" he asked. "Wha...? But you CAN'T leave, Ravi!" Joon ran over to Ravin. "Who's gonna call you 'Dragon-ditz'? Who's gonna make you look like a total fool?" "THAT I won't miss." Ravin laughed. "Ravin...are you sure you're gonna leave?" Ruby asked. "You're not going to leave me like Hiro did, are you?" Ravin looked down. "Mom, Diana's leaving..." Ravin swallowed. "And once Lucia gets reborn...she'll be all alone to protect the Blue Star in her Mother's place." "I understand." Ruby hugged her son. "I'll miss you two." She let go to let a crying Bianca hug her brother. "I don't want you to go, Ravin!" Bianca wept. "I'll miss you TOO much!" "This isn't easy for me, B." Ravin told her. "I'll miss you." He stood up, sighed, and turned to walk away. "Wait!" Joon cried. She pointed at Ravin's finger. "The White Dragon Ring!" "Oh. What about it?" Ravin asked, looking at his finger. "Don't forget to give it to Diana, Dragon-ditz; it's the only one you got!" Ravin smiled. "I'll do it first thing, Joon!" He walked off to Diana. "Hmm..." Joon sighed. "I love my job...!"  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin and Diana were in the transmission room in the Blue Spire. Diana walked onto the platform and turned around to Ravin. "You did not have to come here, Ravin." she told him. "I said that I would meet you there." "I know." he said. "I just wanted to make sure you made it okay." Diana smiled. Her hair blew forward as blue light erupted behind her. The transmission crystal behind Diana glowed brighter and brighter, until the entire room was filled with light. Ravin held up his arm to shield his eyes from the blinding light. Then Diana was floating in the air, surrounded by a blue glow. Her hair is being blown straight upward. Diana floated backwards into the crystal. She slowly faded away. "See you there, Diana." Ravin smiled.  
  
* * *  
  
Ravin flew to the Starlight Forest and up to the top of the Star Dragon Tower. He flew up to one of the tiny windows, as a cat, and climbed in. He turned back into a human. "Okay, the transmission room is that way." "Not so fast, White Dragon!" cried a firm rumbling voice. "Huh?!" Ravin exclaimed, as a huge transparent Dragon head appeared, blocking the doorway to the transmission room. "Are you the Star Dragon?" "Ah, so you recognize me, White Dragon." the Star Dragon said, closing his golden eyes. "Why are you here?" "I'm here to go to the Blue Star, O great Star Dragon." "What for?" "The woman I love is there." The Star Dragon laughed. "This woman doesn't happen to be the soon-to- be protector of the Blue Star, now, is she?" "Yes, as a matter of fact." "Please, young Dragon! Just because of the fact that you are both immortal, does not mean that you can--" "I will be the judge of that." Ravin argued. "Well, then, let's get this battle started. And if you defeat me-- well, you know the routine." The entire Star Dragon appeared. He was a magnifiscent sight. He had green, armour-like scales, spikes all over his body, four bladed wings, and a huge aquamarine tail. The Star Dragon attacked Ravin with burning beams of light. "Rrr!" Ravin growled. "RED DRAGON ANGER!!!" That magic attack caused a good amount of damage to the Star Dragon. It's bladed wings were the color of blood around the edges, before casting Pyro Pillar on Ravin, barely weakening him at all. "Ha! I bet you didn't know that I had Red Dragon in my blood!" "No, I didn't, but I will make sure that I will not make that mistake, next time!" the Star Dragon said. "FLAMING ICE!!!" Ravin yelled. After getting attacked by the magic, the Star Dragon leaned forward, casting an Ice Wall attack. That didn't damage Ravin either. "PYRO SPHERES!!!" The Star Dragon's tail was slowly wiggling (and pausing when it pointed upward) then it attacked Ravin with an electric blast from above. Ravin used a Healing Nut on himself. He used Flaming Ice again on the Star Dragon, before it used Squall on him. Ravin used one more Red Dragon Anger attack on the Star Dragon, and it disappeared. "Well, you sure showed me." the Star Dragon said. "I wish you good luck, White Dragon."  
  
* * *  
  
"Diana, I wish you would not make such a fuss about this." Lucia told her daughter. "I am not dying." "I know that, Mother." Diana said, sitting on the bed with her Mother. "But I will never see you, again. Not as Lucia." "Everything will be all right." Lucia said, embracing Diana. "You will see."  
  
"Diana?" "Huh?" Diana looked towards the door. "Ravin?" She stood up and walked out of the room. She looked up the stairs. "He made it!" she laughed, running up the stairs to him. They embraced each other. "THERE you are!" Ravin exclaimed. "What a ride that was!" "So, you defeated the Star Dragon?" she asked. "Yeah," Ravin smiled. "Where's Lucia?" "She is...down there." Diana led him to Lucia's room, where she sat there still, waiting for her daughter. "Oh, I remember you!" Lucia exclaimed, walking over to Ravin. "When Diana arrived this afternoon, the first thing she said to me was something about you." "Speaking of which," Ravin reached inside of his pocket and pulled out the White Dragon Ring and blushed when he handed it to Diana. "This...is for you." Diana didn't know how to react because she didn't know what this meant. "Umm, Diana? Is there something you forgot to mention to me?" Lucia asked.  
  
It has been several months and Lucia was gone. Now reborn as a mortal girl somewhere on the Blue Star. Ravin and Diana were out on the same ledge Hiro and Lucia had their first kiss on. Ravin had both of his arms wrapped around Diana, his head rested next to hers. Diana had her hands down, one of her hand's fingers fiddling with the ring she was wearing. "You were proposing marriage to me..." Diana whispered, loud enough to be heard by Ravin. "That was very...sweet, Ravin. I will never forget it." "Neither will I." He shivered. "Let's go back inside." He still had one arm wrapped around Diana as he led her into the Blue Tower.  
  
THE END (oh, wait! not the end)  
  
Epilogue  
  
Diana and Ravin lived on on the Blue Star for many years. They had a baby girl and they named her Lunaire. The Blue Star wasn't doing too good though. There was a war going on now, humans called his World War II. However, there was nothing Diana could do about it. But she and her new family were doing just fine. Fional, along with some survivors of Schorr, rebuilt it. He now uses the White Dragon Crest as much as he could. But now, whenever weak monsters would enter Schorr, people would capture them and hold tournaments to see which one was stronger. Liah is now the leader of Vane. Miaka retired. Liah and Ryan were going out for almost two years. Ryan is proposing to Liah soon. Aimee and Trot traveled the world after their wedding. Trot was a good husband... and father. They had two boys: one named Walk and the other Ravin. Aimee's still a Healer for Zulan. Joon and Nero moved in with Ruby and Bianca and are both great babysitters at Taben's Peak. They hope to have their own kid, themselves. Ruby had a baby boy named Feuer.  
  
So...I just wrote the Epilogue for no reason. Okay, there IS a reason. I just wanted to tell you all what everybody's been doing for the...the...thingy. Because I just ended it "right there". I hope you liked my fanfic! I'm THINKING about making a Lunar 4 from this. And for those of you who thought this story was a complete waste of space, don't bother reading #4. 


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